Excalibrrr
by Terakali
Summary: Jaune wasn't meant to be here. He knew he wasn't. But he was here anyway, and he was stuck with that. Of all the times not to get airsick, it just had to be the one that changes the fate of everyone didn't it? Of course it did. Why should he expect anything else?
1. Hoarfrost

**WHEW! I am back!**

 **I must apologize to everyone who genuinely enjoys my stories. I have been incredibly busy with college, working on Boomrah (no, I am not calling it Cosmic Brawl- screw you Michael) and trying to figure out how to even begin to write Tzeentch vs Draga.**

 **Anyway, I felt like it's been more than long enough since I last wrote something. So... Here's something a little easier for me to write in my free time.**

 **A simple White Knight fic.**

 **Sorry, did I say simple? No- it's only simple for you guys. It's a dialogue filled nightmare for me.**

 **Anyway, I hope you enjoy. By the time this is over, the plans for the, erm... Finishing of Fickle Things should be finished. Hope to see you then.**

 **As per usual, you can find a compiled list for all the reviews of this story at the bottom in chronological order.**

* * *

Beacon was a school for heroes. Where those with ability were honed to be the weapons against Grimm. It was, and do mind the pun, the beacon of excellence in society.

The school looked inviting before, but the massive spires loomed overhead now. While most seemed to ignore the shadows which stretched well beyond the already impressive height of the buildings, it was all Jaune could look at. This was the place where legends were born and where many returned to train the next.

So, it was with some trepidation that Jaune- a talentless fraud- stepped off the bullhead and onto the tarmac.

His gait was even- rigidly so- though nobody seemed to notice. Such was the excitement of his peers; nobody so much as glanced his way as they walked to... Somewhere. Jaune certainly didn't know, but he didn't question them. Despite his own fervent attempts to attend Beacon, he'd never so much as set foot on campus before now.

That may have been a mistake, he warned himself as he spared a moment to take in his surroundings. To the untrained eye, the buildings all seemed to mesh together- a mass of grey and a palish blue which spoke nothing of what went on behind its drab exterior.

So, since Jaune was untrained, that was all he could really gather. It didn't help that most of what he could see simply consisted of a broad courtyard, decorated only by a small fountain and an array of bushes.

It was all... Nice. It certainly didn't represent the fear mounting within him. He was unprepared... But surely everyone else was too, right? Maybe not as much as him, but he could adapt. All it would take was a little confidence, right dad?

Even as he thought the words, Jaune knew perfectly well it would take a little more than that. This was a school for hunting monsters, and all he had was a weapon. Not even his own- that would have taken a talent with metal or design, neither of which he had.

Jaune gripped the sheathe of the ancestral blade tightly, taking slight comfort in the steel beside him. If nothing else, it had stood the test of time. Hopefully, it's toughness could become a part of him as well in time.

For now though, he thought, relaxing his arm, I'd best join the others.

The flow of people around him had thinned slightly, Jaune having stopped for a moment in thought. That didn't stop him from seeing where they were going, however- a small alcove with a stage set just outside the main building.

Taking a deep breath, he did his best to calm his nerves. If nothing else, his own terror had stopped him from vomiting from his air sickness on the bullhead ride over.

That was something, right?

* * *

Walking into a room filled to the brim with warriors sounds a lot more interesting than it truly was. Unfortunately, it was made all the worse for who was there... The girl who blew her up.

"I tripped over some crabby girls luggage-" Wait, crabby!? Schnee's do not do crabby! "-and then she started yelling at me-" Fair. "-and then I sneezed, and then I exploded, and then she started yelling again, and I felt really, really bad. I just wanted her to stop yelling at me."

Weiss' eye twitched as her judgemental thoughts were conveyed entirely through one word. "You!"

"Oh god, it's happening again!" Within the space of a blink, Ruby was gone- having moved into her sisters arms. However, no familial backup would deter a Schnee from passing on an important lesson.

"You're lucky we weren't blown off of the side of the cliff." Okay, maybe not the best place to start a lecture, but it was good to get everything out in the open.

"It was an accident!"

Hah. An accident.

An accident would be tripping on something. This…

With a sigh, Weiss let it go. It wasn't worth the trouble. Instead, she reached a hand into her breast pocket to withdraw a pamphlet to bestow upon the... the... brat.

"The Schnee Dust Company is not responsible for any injuries or damages sustained while operating a Schnee Dust Company product. Although not mandatory, the Schnee Dust Company highly encourages the customers to read and familiarize themselves with this easy to follow guide to Dust application and practice in the field."

The spiel was memorized of course- it had to be. To let any additional disgrace fall to the family name would be unbearable.

What with Jacques already at the head.

"Uh..." she began.

"Do you really want to start making things up to me?" She interrupted, flicking the pamphlet before her. A slight nod was all the response she needed. "Read this and don't ever speak to me again."

"Look, uh," her sister intervened while lowering a hand which had been scratching her head. "It sounds like you two just got off on the wrong foot." Because blowing people up is a regular thing for you? "Why don't you just start over and try to be friends, okay?"

It didn't even take eyes to see the absolute deadpan Weiss was giving out, which made it all the more embarrassing when Ruby turned to her with a smile and an outstretched hand. "Yeah! Great idea, sis! Hello Weiss, I'm Ruby. Wanna hang out? We can go shopping for school supplies!"

"Yeah, and we can paint our nails, and try on clothes, and talk about cute boys like tall, blond, and scraggly over there."

"Oh wow- really?"

It took all the willpower Weiss had to not return the favor for earlier. Fortunately, she had more than enough practice dealing with people who couldn't understand quality sarcasm.

"No."

The conversation was interrupted by some feedback from a mic turning on.

Finally, something important, Weiss huffed while turning towards the stage.

The man didn't introduce himself, but his appearance was more than enough. Everyone knew Ozpin- even outside Vale. Despite his apparently relaxed posture, he exuded power. Not in the violent way Ruby's sister did- no. That would be uncouth of someone in his position. He radiated authority- the kind of power Weiss herself sought. The ability to sway people and guide them.

That was stronger than anyone could be.

After clearing his throat, likely to put the students at ease, he calmly spoke to them all. "I will be brief. You have traveled here today in search of knowledge; to hone your craft and acquire new skills. And when you are finished, you plan to dedicate your life to the protection of the people."

Ah, someone who understa-

"But I look amongst you, and all I see is wasted energy in need of purpose, direction."

Weiss' eye twitched slightly at his description of them. Sure, a few people here could be described as such. But her?

"You assume knowledge will free you of this, but your time at this school will prove that knowledge can only carry you so far. It is up to you to take the first step."

Cautiously, Weiss did a quick survey of the people around her- judging their reactions. As far as she could understand, he was talking about taking initiative in their learning, but there was something deeper there. She could feel it. Nobody else seemed to have the answer, however, so she turned back to the stage as Glynda took Ozpin's place at the mic.

"You will gather in the ballroom tonight. Tomorrow your initiation begins. Be ready. You are dismissed."

That... that was it- the end of orientation. Why had they even arrived so early, if they were merely going to be told to relax? Surely they could have done so some other time. Sure, they handed out locker numbers to everyone- the details of hers were waiting with it's entry code on her scroll- but that could have been handled after initiation. Some students weren't going to pass, right? Wouldn't this just add work to the staff?

The lack of logic aside, Weiss was suddenly left with a lot of time and not much to do. Her scroll lacked any form of entertainment- the best she could get was checking in with the news. Not that much would have been released since the bullhead ride over.

She could probably find a book, but that would require a student ID chip being implanted into her scroll. They hadn't done that yet- probably since team assignments hadn't…

TEAMS! Weiss smacked her forehead with one hand, drawing it down slowly. She'd almost forgotten one of the biggest problems she was going to face.

Who to pick, though? The only person that sprung to mind was Pyrrha, but teams consisted of four people. All she really had was a list of people that absolutely couldn't be on her team- Ruby, her sister, and that black haired girl who took her side.

Man, that sounded really vindictive now that she thought about it. However, it was still the safer option. Better someone new than someone she already thought poorly o-

"I'm a natural blond, by the way," a voice spoke out from beside her. She didn't even bother looking at him, her face falling directly into one of her hands.

What did I do to deserve this?

* * *

"It's like a BIG slumber party!" Yang cried out as she slammed down beside her.

True- it was. A ton of people- likely reaching over a hundred- filled the room, either sleeping or talking with their friends. Unfortunately, she didn't have any. Instead, Ruby had to console herself with finishing a letter home and trading quiqs with Yang.

Not that it wasn't easy enough here.

"I don't think dad would approve of all the boys, thought."

Yang's smile growing wider told her she'd lost the brief vocal skirmish long before her reply ever left her lips. "I know I do."

Of course she would- she was Yang. The confident and strong older sister. Meanwhile, here Ruby was, two years younger than everyone else and completely left to the fishes. Nobody but Yang had so much as spoken with her...

Not counting Weiss, of course, but calling their interactions conversations would hardly be fair.

Ruby didn't look up when something caused Yang to lose her earlier admiration for the other side of the room. It wasn't her business- not with the age gap she and everyone here inevitably had.

"What's that?"

Yangs question brought a slight smile to Rubys lips, but it quickly faded as the answer truly went through her mind. "A letter to the gang back at Signal. I promised to tell them all about Beacon and how things are going." She'd planned this letter to tell an epic tale- one of adventure and whimsy. At this point, however, it was mostly a rant about a particular heiress and how much it just... just... sucked to be here by herself.

"Aw!" Yang cooed, drawing Ruby's eyes. "That's so cuuuuute!"

A pillow to the face handily silenced her. For good measure, however, Ruby followed that up with a quick "Shut up!"

Letting her head plant directly into her remaining pillow, Ruby continued. "I didn't get to take my friends with me to school. It's weird not knowing anyone here."

Her words brought a pause over Yang. Even without turning to look, Ruby could sense the hesitation from her older sister. It... It sucked! At best, she'd met two people, and neither of them were anywhere close to being considered friends. Weiss was... Well, a negative friend, and the other.

Ruby looked up from the pillow, spying her on the other side of the room. She was reading a book- what neither of them could tell from here. It didn't seem to matter, really. Any story would no doubt be a barrier between the two of them talking.

A pair of eyes edged their way into her periphery- Yang was looking at her again in that concerned expression she'd seen so many times before. "Look, it's only been one day. Trust me, you've got friends all around you." There was a pause. "You just haven't met them yet."

Nodding at the words, Ruby inhaled sharply. Yang was right. Throwing herself a pity party wasn't helping anyone. She could, however, help herself.

And the first step towards doing that was against the far wall reading a book.

"Thanks Yang."

* * *

"So, Pyrrha, have you given any thought to who's team you would like to be on? I'm sure everyone must be eager to unite with such a strong, well known individual, such as yourself." The champion seemed unimpressed with the words. Perhaps it was just a sign of how high status she considered herself to be.

"Hm... I'm not quite sure," she responded with a slight shift in her posture. "I was planning on letting the chips fall where they may."

Leave everything to luck? That seemed rather stupid, actually, given that teams lasted well into a hunter's adult lives. Generally, the people you spent the four years in school with became life partners. The common adage 'till death do we part' seemed a rather apt description. Surely nobody would choose to marry just anyone. So why would anyone select a team in such a manner?

"Well, I was thinking maybe we could be on a team together," Weiss suggested with a slight nervousness in her tone. Based on her earlier statement, there was no guarantee of success, even with the normally irrefutable Schnee charm.

The smile on Pyrrha's face brought one out on Weiss as well. "That sounds grand."

This will be PERFECT! The smartest and strongest girls in class working together. We'll be unstoppable! I can see it now! We'll be popular; we'll be celebrities; we'll get perfect grades. Nothing can stand between us now!

Without the slightest ounce of hesitation, the blond idiot from earlier took that instant to slip right between the two of them. "You know what else is great? Me. Jaune Arc. Nice to meet you."

Crossing her arms before her, Weiss regards the blond with her usual glower. Not that she would ever call it that.

"You again?"

"Nice to meet you, Jaune," Pyrrha said, stepping in front of her.

He brushes Pyrrha- PYRRHA of all people- aside, stepping up to Weiss with a frankly ridiculous amount of posturing. "Yeah, yeah. So, Weiss! Couldn't help but overhear your fondness for me the other day."

Oum, he's an idiot. Just what I needed. "You're kidding, right?"

"Don't worry," he says, waving his arms before him in a dismissive motion. "No need to be embarrassed. So, been hearing rumors about teams."

It was difficult to miss the obvious emphasis on teams. Just as apparent, and somehow still overlooked, was the glare Weiss gave him at the mention.

"I was thinking you and me would make a good one. What do you say?"

Weiss frowned, taking a moment to consider it. He was an idiot, but that could be worked out, and teams were supposed to be made of four people…

"Actually," Pyrrha started, breaking the train of thought. "Teams are supposed to be made of four people, so-"

Oh, right. Wait, does she want to be with... Him?

"You don't say?" Jaune rhetorically asked as he stepped up to her. "Well, hot-stuff, play your cards right and maybe you can join up with the winning team."

Weiss raised an eyebrow at the brazenness he showed. He was so confident in talking with her... Did he not know about her status? That was ridiculous- everyone did. Perhaps he's just that good, her treacherous mind suggested, but that fell away in an instant. Even the most skilled students here couldn't possibly be that far above Pyrrha.

"Jaune, is it?" Her questions went without answer as she stepped between the two of them. "Do you have any idea who you're talking to?"

"Not in the slightest, snow angel," he replied.

Weiss let the nickname slide. It wasn't as important, at least for the moment. "This is Pyrrha." The girl in question waved a quick greeting at the introduction. "Pyrrha graduated top of her class at Sanctum."

"Never heard of it," he said with a shrug.

Never hea- She scoffed, moving onto another point. This one would probably be more memorable anyway. "She's won the Mistral regional tournament four years in a row- a new record."

She would never forget his answer to that. "The what?"

You're gonna be the death of me. "She's on the front of every Pumpkin Pete's Marshmallow Flakes box!"

The gasp of realization across his face was a lot less satisfying than it should have been.

"That's you!" he cried out, his voice a mixture of surprise and admiration. "They only do that for the star athletes and cartoon characters!"

The excitement in his voice was palpable, and that only made it more irritating for Weiss as Pyrrha went on a brief tangent about the cereal. It wasn't important! He was clearly missing far too much information about his peers! Jaune had to be physically skilled in order to get here- that much was certain- but he desperately needed to be more aware of those around him. And he wanted to lead a team, too. I can imagine that going horribly.

There was a chance that everything would be fine, but as with the formation of teams, it was better to pick a leader who would be responsible and aware. One who could and would do everything that the team needed them to do.

Someone like her.

"Actually, Jaune, I think you'd make a great leader."

Those words broke Weiss out of her thoughts.

"You what?"

Pyrrha turned to regard Weiss, her amusement obvious. "Well, a leader doesn't have to be someone who can lead from the get go. It should be someone who can learn to be anything the team needs. There's no way anyone could be able to solve everything- especially when they're still in training." She paused, giving Jaune a quick glance. "I see potential here. I think he could grow immensely."

Weiss froze. The words made a lot of sense, actually. Even she, who was undoubtedly more capable than he, couldn't be prepared for everything. She could adapt, but who was she to say Jaune couldn't? Pyrrha probably had a better eye for this kind of thing, with her experience. Still, it left an unsettling feeling in the back of Weiss' throat.

"Sounds like Pyrrha's on board for Team Jaune. Spots are filling up quick. Now, I'm not supposed to do this, but maybe I could pull some strings. Find a place for you. What do you say?"

Weiss handily stepped back from his approach, raising an eyebrow at his attempts to close that distance. "Pyrrha?" she asked, stressing the word in an attempt to convey a hidden message.

It didn't seem to pass over very well, but there wasn't much Weiss could complain for the results. Jaune being trapped against a nearby wall by a spear through his hood- a hood? Seriously? That was just asking to be abused in a fight- was actually rather satisfying.

With a hiss, the intercom sounded above their heads. "Would all first year students report to Beacon Cliff for initiation. I repeat. Would all first year students report to Beacon Cliff immediately."

That wasn't a question. It was a statement, and one that wouldn't go ignored. Even over the intercom, Glynda's voice told a rather unfortunate tale about what would happen to those that disregarded her message.

* * *

Jaune collapsed to the ground as the spear that held him against the wall suddenly fell came away. He didn't resist as gravity pulled him into a seated position. He was rather demoralized, even with the passing goodbye he shared with Pyrrha as she and Weiss made their way outside. Weiss didn't seem interested, even if Pyrrha was. In a team, he reminded himself as he looked up to see two people walk towards him.

"Having some trouble there, ladykiller?"

The voice was nice, which was enough to jumpstart Jaune's brain. Well, that would imply it was all the way back. There was still some lingering lethargy at how poorly that had worked out.

"I don't understand," he sighed, using a hand atop a nearby bench to help him stand up. "My dad said all women look for is confidence... Where did I go wrong?"

"Snow Angel probably wasn't the best start," the blond smarmed with a knowing smirk.

"Ooh... You heard that."

"Yep," she replied, either unable to recognize or unwilling to deal with the silent plea for silence in his voice. Not that it made much difference if she did- they'd obviously seen the whole thing.

It was probably for the best. Better to start off with a clean slate when dealing with people.

"So... Who are you again?"

Probably not his best introduction.

* * *

 **Ah. It feels good to be back. I know I said something similar in the intro, but that was a different day. Now I'm back in the comfortable groove. Most of my work yesterday had to be scrapped, since I realized that I was writing in first person. That doesn't really help when I already started writing some of the later segments in third person.**

 **Anyway, because I'm a complete asshole, I am gonna leave part of that here with no context to back it up and it ends with a cliffhanger.**

 **You were warned.**

 **Oh, and because I don't want to troll anyone by putting a message AFTER the thing I'm telling you not to read, I'll put the rest of my authors note here.**

 **This story will be updated at least once a week- probably a bit more often. It will include a lot of what the normal series has to show, but there will be some side activities. Otherwise, what'd be the point, right?**

 **Anyway, this will probably stop some point after Volume 3. I won't tell you why, but it kind of... Can't continue after that.**

 **Hehehe.**

 **I really am an asshole.**

 **Yours truly, Terakali.**

* * *

Jaune batted aside one of the oncoming blades, his shield absorbing most of the impact as he continued to sprint forward. His team was counting on him. There was no way he would lose here... Not to her.

She spoke so easily, her voice seemingly unaffected as she sent attack after attack his way. "You seem distressed."

Well of course he was. Did she expect him not to be when he had to dodge or block a seemingly endless series of blows? The fight had only been going on for a little over a minute by this time, but his muscles were already starting to ache. Whenever he managed an opening or gave himself a moment to rest, his opponent merely increased the intensity with which she struck.

There was no relaxing in this fight- not that he had expected any. If there was anything he'd learned from his time at Beacon, he was a small fish from a small pond who had been thrown directly into the ocean.

He needn't fight to survive- he could always retreat- but that wasn't an option anymore. He had people counting on him.

It was that burning sensation in the forefront of his mind when he held his shield out before him and broke out into a sprint.

Fighting strategically wasn't working. Her speed and versatility both outclassed him. His only real advantage was in defense- both in the form of his shield and semblance.

He had to crush her. That was the only option.

As attacks ricocheted off of his shield, he did not slow. Her range was superior too, but that generally meant he could win if only he got in close. Uncharacteristic rage flowed through him as he glanced at his opponents face. She was smiling. It taunted him, as she no doubt knew it would.

She wasn't stupid, though nobody believed that in the first place. As he approached, she tried to circle off to the side- obviously aware of the edge of their fighting grounds.

He wouldn't allow it. As she moved, he forced himself forward, even as the attacks grew in both strength and accuracy. Crocea Mors couldn't block everything. Expecting that would have been foolish. However, it was at this time that Jaune realized just how little of him it could actually defend.

The edges repeatedly slid across his arms, legs, and back, tearing his aura apart. He didn't feel any pain, though. Such was the pure adrenaline coursing through his veins as he charged the final few feet.

He flung his shield forward, bashing it into his opponent. He heard no sound as he continued forward, using all of his strength to lift his enemy off of her feet.

No cries reached his ears as he slammed her into the ground. That ticked him off more than he thought it would.

Was he not worthy of acknowledgement, even now?

"RAH" he cried, raising his own sword up above his head.

It made it down, but not as an attack.

Crocea Mors fell from his grip, red liquid tainting the normally pristine metal.

He still didn't feel pain, but he knew he should, even before he looked down at his chest. Without so much as moving her arms, the blades he'd come to know so well shown through him.

"Oh."

The blades withdrew, taking his ability to remain upright with it. Strangely, the only thought that went through his mind as his vision turned black was a slightly corny joke. That flash before his eyes- there was none.

His life didn't exist.

* * *

 **Guest1: You're right. Already removed them. As for retelling the events, I understand, but there are important differences that I... I mean, I could TRY and reference them later, but it would take a lot of effort. The slight change at the beginning is supposed to compound on itself, reaching forward. It's kind of hard to show that if I can't retell stuff like this. Don't worry- it gets less intense after this chapter. This one was fairly repetitive since it didn't get into the meat of anything. Literally the next chapter breaks about half of the established setting.**

 **Guest2: Gee, what a thoughtful review. Glad to see someone can be a pessimistic dickhead on the internet. What a surprise.**

 **Guest3: Yep. Should be done sometime tomorrow, though when I have no idea. I have classes that day, and I plan on binging my homework then too... Fun times. Fortunately, I'm already a little over 3000 words in, and it's gonna end sometime around 37-3800. See you tomorrow.**

 **campione278: Much obliged. There will be more.**

 **Amonamon: My apologies if you don't like my version of Weiss. I take suggestions, if you or anyone reading this has any. I am hardly a master at writing, and dialogue has always been a weakness of mine. However, I think you're referring to the thought processes she represents, but I attribute the difference there to creative vision. I have a plan, and it requires that she be a little more... Normal. Still prissy and a tad arrogant, but humanly so. Her transition to lose the reduced traits will also be slower, while also occurring on screen. That twelve-hours to think copout was dumb.  
**

 **Mugen no Tenma/Guest4: Thank you very much.**

 **TobiTheVeryBest: Sadly, no. I didn't use Jazzberry in an attempt to avoid similarities to the superb Coeur Ar'Alan work I was reading at the time called Not This Time, Fate. I realized a bit too late how similar some of my ideas were and did some... Changing.**

 **jairoesme: Oh, she is being aggressive, but she understands what his current level is, and he had no requirement to participate. Now, after Permafrost, though? HAHAHAHAHAHA!**

 **jairoesme: I will tell you now, the upgrade will be nothing like what Jaune did with Pyrrha's weapons. Also, thank you.**

 **Josh Spicer: Are her treatment of him is a problem... Why? Like, it's intentional. I'm not placing her opinion of him on accident, and it will be relevant later. Also, NO! I am not following canon exactly. There are a ridiculous number of differences between Permafrost and the normal Forever Fall because I follow the _events_ doesn't meant I'm following canon. The butterfly effect doesn't work that fast.**

 **G-Unot/Mugen no Tenma: Yes, Jericho Falls is a reference to The Games We Play, probably my favorite story of all time, both in and out of the fanfiction realm. However, The Yellow Death is not a reference- it's just a rough translation of Crocea Mors.**

 **Mugen no Tenma: Only maybe, just maybe? You're kidding, right? I suck at dialogue, dude. I've been complaining about it the entire time. No need to kick me while I'm down with what feels like sarcasm, matey. Anyway, any idea how to actually solve it? I'm not above rewriting the sodding thing if I know what to actually DO.**

 **Mugen no Tenma: Heh. Thanks for the quick read- it's much appreciated. Also, I'm going to spoil this now. No, Jaune is not dead. (This is in reference to Chapter 7).**

 **Guest4: GOD DAMMIT DUDE! I booted up my computer instantly once I got the notification I had a reply and it just said CONTINUE! WHY WOULD YOU DO THIS!? WHY!? Obviously I'm not done- I mentioned in that chapter alone that I had work towards the Dance already complete- I'm not gonna let that go to waste even if I wanted to stop. I hate this game of emotions we play!**

 **Mugen no Tenma: He will have fits of rage, yes, but I don't have any particular plans for him to get head injuries in the future. It's mostly going to stand as a reminder of what he can be made to do any reshape outside opinions of him. He was broadcast, at least partially, on the news as attacking fellow students and public workers. As for time, the dance was literally the next arc. I set it up for there to be over a week between it so I CAN have something before it. Not my fault it's so close. Also, yes, he is going to... play some songs, just not serenading. Also, yes, the closeness exists, but it's not quite there, hence why I needed the week or so for buildup. (The 3 days pass in recovery.)**

 **Mugen no Tenma: Indeed. Shit has hit the fan. Also, while Weiss is more judgmental about the lies, its moreso the act of lying that she has a problem with than the lie itself- despite how she is portrayed in the next chapter.**

 **PrometheusDark: Ah- don't sweat it. This is a vacation for me. I'm actually having a blast writing this, despite the more stressed notes I leave in the authors notes. I do appreciate the support, however.**

 **PrometheusDark: Thanks for showing me that phrase. That is the first time I'd ever heard it, and it's very appropriate for the situation. However, he hasn't exactly seduced her, so the more popular connotation slightly misses the mark. Weiss doesn't put out that easily.**

 ** **Mugen no Tenma: Who am I to disappoint? I wrote the song, and I used it. As simple as that.  
****

 ** ** **Mugen no Tenma: I'm not going to Scooby Doo their mission. Obviously humans are involved, but it is a genuine Grimm.  
******

 ** ** **Guest5: I wouldn't exactly say it's foreshadowing since we lacked context on the situation at the time. My version is 100% foreshadowing, however, so... Enjoy.******

 ** ** **SentinalSlice: Oh, he will. His semblance will be fully explored during and between the fights of the Vytal festival, with particular emphasis in their training together. However, it's not gonna be that easy... He's almost afraid of it since he clearly doesn't understand what his semblance actually is.******

 ** ** **LoganHunter2 (A bunch): Thanks for the reviews. It does travel really fast, by necessity. The schedule of RWBY is hectic and only stories that break away from Vale (Service With A Smile, for example) really have the freedom to slow the whole thing down. I could write out more, sure, but I feel like the pacing helps keep tension up a bit. I could be wrong- who knows. As for the weapon... No. It's as described.******

 ** ** **Shioshiro: You know it. There will be many more references to Brooklyn 9-9 between Qrow and Winter.******

 ** ** **SentinalSlice: Oh, if he had the chance, I'm sure he would be pissed. I'll leave you at that.******

 ** ** **janed12000: Pretty much everything has gone to shit, so yes, allegiances will change and activities will be shifted. Unfortunately for Roman, he is stuck within the contingency, for now, but Winters status and a lack of Vale authority... It will be fun to write.******

 **billthebuilders: So, originally it was going to be all me... I fucked up, though. My origin story that I'd written today's chapter with couldn't account for magic. Fuck me... Sorry, Maidens, Oz, and Branwens... I have failed you. Yes, I will be using TGWP, though there will be marked differences in the power level of somethings. There is no Jaune character, or even anyone on his level, so I can't have Malkuth be a literal reality warper in his current state.**

 **AnonymityFTW: Thank you, sir, and I will. I have been working on a plan to continue this into Volume 5, which will be... Interesting, to say the least, considering the massive swathes of changes in this version of Volume 3.**


	2. Cold Feet

**God damn, guys. I had the first chapter uploaded for like an hour when it had 200 views. That's... That's kind of depressing, really. I can only think that the popularity of RWBY is the main reason.  
**

 **Ah well. Better to get popular for no good reason than not to at all, I suppose. Well, better for me. I will admit, that first chapter isn't exactly spectacular.**

 **This one... A bit more so. Cheers.**

 **Oh, and tell me if you think I should remove the following segment. I don't think it's strictly necessary, but it was always my second favorite part of initiation. The first... Well, it will 100% be there.**

* * *

"For years, you have have trained to be warriors; and today your abilities will be evaluated in the Emerald Forest," Ozpin explains, taking a sip from his Beacon stamped mug.

"Now, I'm sure many of you have heard rumors about the assignment of teams," Glynda began. "Well, allow us to put an end to your confusion. Each of you will be given teammates... Today."

The weight of the words was palpable, spreading through the crowd as Ozpin took their attention once more.

"These teammates will be with you for the rest of your time here at Beacon, so it is in your best interest to be paired with someone with whom you work well."

Jaune sighed, looking at the people around him. They seemed so much more confident than him- besides Ruby who seemed just as crushed by this as he was.

Maybe she should join team Jaune...?

"That being said, the first person you make eye-contact with after landing will be your partner for the next four years."

He blinked.

And blinked again, just to be safe.

They were doing this randomly!? WHY!? Theoretically, it could work out, but surely better methods existed. Hell, if it was random, why not just do a lottery!?

"After you've partnered up, make your way to the northern end of the forest," Ozpin directs, not bothering to wait for Jaune's internal crisis to solve. "You will meet opposition along the way." Fun. "Do not hesitate to destroy everything in your path, or you will die."

"Heh-heh... Heh..." Jaune chuckles anxiously, quickly checking to see if Ozpin was joking.

He wasn't.

"You will be monitored and graded for the duration of your initiation, but our instructors will not intervene."

What kind of school is this!?

Understandably, Jaune's thoughts weren't answered.

"You will find an abandoned temple, at the end of the path, containing several relics. Each pair must choose one and return to the top of the cliff. You will guard that item- and your standing- and we will grade you accordingly."

He paused.

"Are there any questions?"

"Yeah-um... Sir?" Jaune posed, raising his hand.

"Good," Ozpin replied, cutting him off. "Now, take your positions."

Jaune shook his head, turning to look at his classmates. All of them were adjusting their equipment and getting into ready stances. They seemed fully aware of what was happening, while Jaune didn't even know why they were standing on tiles built onto the edge of the cliff. Now that he thought about it, why were they even here? Was it ceremonial? That sounded odd if they were just going to throw them to the wolves.

He didn't realize at the time how apt the word throw really was.

"Uh, sir?" Jaune began again, his hand still raised. "I've got a-um, question."

Jaune's attention was cut off when a mechanical whirring is replaced with a monstrous springing noise. Even if he hadn't turned, he'd have an idea what just happened- Weiss was thrown into the sky by the tile below her.

It didn't take a genius to realize what that meant for the one he was standing on.

"So, about this whole shooting off thing... Can we be dropped off by bullhead, or...?"

"No," Ozpin answered bluntly. "You will be falling."

Great.

The second launcher shot off.

"Oh... I see... Did you hand out parachutes for us?"

Third launcher.

"No- you will be using your own landing strategy."

"Uh-huh..." he said, trying to ignore the fourth launcher going off just a few meters away.

"So, what exactly is a LANDING STRATEGY!?" he called out, being shot into the air himself.

* * *

Jaune groaned, looking down at his aching ribs.

And instantly regretting it when the ground reveals itself far below him.

AHHHH-hhhhhhh...?

He wasn't falling. At least, he wasn't falling anymore. "Huh," he muttered, looking up at the SPEAR EMBEDDING HIS HOOD INTO A TREE!

"I'm sorry!" a voice called out from somewhere in the distance. He'd know who it was, even if he didn't recognize the voice. Her weapon was more than iconic enough. However thankful for the save he was, that did leave him stuck up a tree.

He could probably get the spear out if he tried hard enough, but then he'd need a way down…

Actually, it's only like 12 feet. I can fall that far, right?

Once more, his thoughts went unanswered, but he swallowed his doubts. This wasn't the time… He was being graded, and he'd be damned before he went home a failure.

Reaching up to grab the spear, he braceed his legs against the tree. 'Leaping' forward, the weapon tore itself free from the wood.

Quite a bit easier than he expected, unfortunately.

"SHIT!" he cried out the moment before crashing- rather painfully- face first into the dirt.

Pulling himself up from the vaguely person shaped indent in the ground, Jaune took a quick glance around. The forest didn't look to be anything special, but even he knew about the danger that lurked within. The expanse of bushes and trees spread out across a vast lot of land and a variety of Grimm inhabited it. Not that he knew what the variety was, but that wasn't important. All that mattered is that everywhere was dangerous and he was alone.

He could follow the direction the spear came from, but that might lead him into danger... Better to stay he-.

"Hello."

Weiss.

Jaune looked to the side, meeting the eyes of a certain snow angel.

They were partners.

* * *

Well... He's better than her at least, Weiss sighed, hauling him to his feet. She didn't stop there, though, one hand coming up to grab his hood as she started to drag him off.

"You better not slow me down," she warned.

Jaune saluted with one hand, not that she cared for it. It was just as corny as the rest of him. "I wouldn't dream of it."

Weiss missed the smile on his face. That, and the champion rounding a nearby tree to retrieve her spear.

Who Ruby partnered up with was no longer her problem.

* * *

Jaune..." Weiss began slowly. "Is that you?"

The ambient growl grew in volume.

"Afraid not..."

"Then we've got company," she stated, raising her rapier before her. Jaune readied his weapons too, but- even with just her peripheral vision- she could tell he wasn't prepared for Grimm. His stance was off and his sword was held at an open angle.

This is gonna be my whole day, isn't it?

Red eyes flashed visibly in a nearby bush, the Beowulf behind it poised to strike.

It didn't get the chance, one of the glowing orbs impaled by Myrtenaster.

Weiss fluidly slid the weapon from the Beowulf while ducking backward from another's pounce. Flipping back over and onto her feet, she ducked down to prepare for another dash. She would have, too, if not for the sound of bone against metal bringing her gaze towards her partner.

Two Beowulfs were gunning for him, and he was doing his best to keep his shield between him and them, but it wasn't going well. He was forced back with each strike and it was clear the Grimm were overpowering him.

Weiss didn't make so much as a sound as she readied to strike at them. Jaune seemed to realize her preparations himself, as he leapt back from the next strike rather than blocking. That, of course, left them vulnerable.

A flash of silver was all they saw before their chests were torn open.

Weiss raised the tip of her weapon again, entering a defensive stance as she scanned the area around her. Having begun the attack, the Beowulfs no longer sought to hide their presence, so she could get an accurate count.

Twelve, counting the three that had already died. That didn't mean more weren't lagging behind, but they could manage.

One of the Beowulfs took a step forward. It didn't get to take another as an instant later it was flung back with a sudden hole in its chest.

That seemed to jumpstart the rest of the pack who immediately lept into action. Of the remaining eight, only four went after her. An odd choice, since she was clearly a larger threat, but such inconsistencies were to be expected with mindless beasts.

Or they're going after the weaker target first, her brain reminded her, causing her mouth to twist into a frown. Jaune managed to at least hold back two, but four could easily overwhelm someone who relied on a shield.

Even now, she could see him giving large swathes of ground to the encroaching Grimm.

A circle of light appeared beneath her, spreading out into a familiar white glyph.

The Beowulfs after her leap for their target, but Weiss was gone- having shot past them to Jaune's aid.

As she sped by, Myrtenasters internal chambers spun furiously before settling on fire.

BOOM!

Four black silhouettes vanished in a bright flash, but that same vibrant spike in energy sent both her and Jaune flying from its center. The burst of heat followed them, filling their vision with red as they slid across the ground.

As the smoke faded, Weiss took a moment to right herself. Nothing seemed to be broken- at least of hers- but she didn't have time to check on Jaune. There weren't a lot of Beowulfs left- still only four by her admittedly disoriented count- but they'd inevitably lose if they stayed on the ground. Weiss conjures a glyph beneath the pair with a snarl, the circle of light doing nothing to deter the Grimm leaping at them with razor sharp claws outstretched.

It does, however, make them no longer be there.

Ignoring Jaune's frantic cry, Weiss flipped over in the air to face the ground. Down below, the Beowulfs had pounced into a nice convenient pile.

Another glyph conjured above her, letting a foot brace against it before takeoff. And just like that, she's on the ground with Myrtenasters kill count four higher.

"Whew," she sighed, sliding her rapier back into its scabbard.

Jaune makes a similar, albeit more painful, sound shortly after landing just beside her. He seemed to have taken a lot more damage than her, even though she had been closer to the explosion. Perhaps the Beowulfs were stronger than she gave them credit for. Either that, or she'd been stuck with a weakling.

Not that such a thing would be a permanent arrangement. She couldn't lose Jaune, but she was more than capable of making him meet her standards.

"You mobile?"

She only got a thumb down in reply.

"Man, your aura must be terrible," she sighed, crouching down next to him.

"My what?" he said, confusion obvious in his tone.

"Your... Your aura..." she started, looking down at him blankly. "Your previous school did awaken your aura, right?"

Jaune shook his head, though it looked quite different with his chin in the dirt.

Not that she had trouble getting the message.

"I'm really gonna regret this partnership, aren't I," she stated, not even bothering to make it a question.

Jaune couldn't really object, but he managed to give her a weak smile and a shrug in reply.

"Alright, Jaune-y boy, stand up," she ordered, rising to her feet as well. "I'll do this as fast as possible so we can move on. We can deal with your... Issues later."

* * *

Despite the steadily increasing agony flooding his chest, Jaune forced himself up beside her. If nothing else, he would endure the pain. He owed her that much.

Unsteadily, he stood up across from her. Although, that's probably a bad way of describing his comparatively towering height. If you cut the heels, he'd probably be able to set his chin on her head.

Regardless, though, he managed to remain still enough for her to... He had no idea what, but he wasn't going to stop her.

Weiss placed a hand on his sternum and, ignoring his wince, began some kind of incantation.

"For through our legacy, we shall achieve immortality. Through this, we become a paragon of virtue and glory to rise above all. Finite is distance and bound by law, I release your soul, and by my shoulder, protect thee."

While that was being said, Jaune had to look down and marvel at the light show. Weiss had begun to glow a vibrant white which spread from her to him through her outstretched arm.

The feeling that came over him was intense- as though he became more than he was in that instant alone. The pain in his chest faded, as did the fatigue that had been gradually building up over time.

Everything just felt... Right.

Without another word, Weiss turned and stomped away, leaving him to follow. He didn't have it in him to complain.

And I was supposed to have this already...

* * *

Weiss stepped over a fallen pillar, eyes peering around her carefully. They had been ambushed in a relatively clear area- there was no reason to believe no Grimm were near the temple. Actually, since a ruin would imply people, they were more likely here.

That didn't seem to be the case. Though, it could have been earlier, since all she could see were Yang and her partner- that black haired girl who had the nerve to call her out earlier. As much as they annoyed her, they should be more than enough to take down any lingering Beowulf.

Weiss spared a moment to look back at Jaune. He was keeping pace, but from a distance. Perhaps an instinctual reaction? It was possible that she was intimidating to him.

That didn't matter- at least not now. Weiss turned back to the temple, eyes honing in for what they came for. The 'artifacts', as Ozpin called them, were a series of chess pieces laid out atop short stone pillars as if they held some regal purpose.

It took but a moment to realize that the best piece would be the White Knight. It stood for refinement, strength, and strategic confrontation. It was also thematically appropriate, what with the Schnee family.

Perfect for her.

But for him... Eh.

So what if the symbolism wasn't perfect. He at least had a sword and shield- knightly weapons. That was enough.

Besides the two who were already there, several other pieces were already missing. Based on the number, at least twelve other students had beat them here.

That... Was fine, honestly. Rushing through the forest to escape Ruby had been a hassle- what with the bushes snagging on her skirt or her shoes having poor traction on muddied soil.

Now that I think about it, where is Ruby?

Ruby and Pyrrha had both been with them at the time the partners were made. Had they gone off on their own?

Her thoughts were interrupted when a monstrous roar sounded on the outskirts of the clearing, but the Ursa's cry was cut short by... Actually, it was hard to tell. There was some electricity, but neither of the two people visible seemed to have that on them.

With a shake of her head, Weiss ignored them. Clearly if the girl could complain about her... Erm… mount dying, she was more than capable of caring for herself.

There was less certainty about the screaming, crimson-clad child who was busy falling from the sky. Weiss spared a moment to create a slanted glyph below her, allowing Ruby to at least land in a roll.

That wasn't what caught her attention, though. Weiss' eyes narrowed up towards the Nevermore soaring above them. A spec of brown- likely Pyrrha based on her partners entrance- could clearly be seen riding that as well.

Was riding Grimm something people picked up outside of Atlas? It sounded needlessly dangerous, but who knows. Maybe it actually effective.

It seemed a little less effective for Pyrrha than the Ursa riding girl- and more so, with her slipping from the monstrous bird a moment latter.

There was no screaming with her fall. Despite the naturally overwhelming height, she seemed calm as she lowered her shield before her. There was a shift in her expression- unrecognizable from this distance- before her acceleration seemed to reverse.

Talk about a landing strategy, she noted, turning back to the Giant Nevermore.

It was coming down- looking for a fight. Since they weren't running, it wasn't going to stay high and strafe them- it would take far too long.

Come to mama.

* * *

"Okay, it's official, you are terrifying."

Nora laughed it off, but it wasn't any less accurate because of it. Her weapon was absolutely ridiculous. The ability to fly... The ability to hit a target with melee explosions... And her own insane striking power…

How did this get approved!?

Jaune shook his head, absolutely dreading the very thought of Nora. Each of them had proven themselves in their own way- himself included, surprisingly- but that was nothing compared to the absolute ridiculous feats she pulled off. At least according to her, she wasn't even trying either!

Flying into the air... Batting the Nevermore aside... And then hammering one of its wings hard enough to break GRIMM BONES... wasn't even trying.

Jaune merely shook his head, letting it pass. There wasn't much point dwelling on her preposterous strength.

Or there wouldn't be if that strength wasn't currently being used to give him a spine-crushing hug. "Nora... Air..." he choked out, looking desperately towards Ren. He wasn't of any help, but Nora relented regardless, letting go and leaving him to collapse onto the ground while frantically inhaling sweet, sweet oxygen.

"Hey, don't die on me yet," she reassured him with a casual pat on the back. "Who else is gonna come up with impaling Grimm with trees?"

Nobody, most likely. After all, it was only possible with Nora and Weiss working together to shoot the massive spear of wood.

Speaking of, those glyphs were pretty overpowered too. There didn't seem to be a range limit, they functioned in mid-air, and could create inhuman speeds.

Madness.

Taking a moment to stand back up, Jaune peered off into the direction of the cliff. With the eight of them, the trip should be over without difficulty. After all, it's not like a Deathstalker is going to come crashing out of the woods or anything.

He paused, listening carefully, but relaxed when nothing happened. Knowing his luck, one of the giant scorpions would have appeared, and it would have been his fault for tempting fate.

Then again, knowing what he knew now, it would have been a cakewalk regardless. Use Weiss' glyphs to flip it into the air and then blow apart its defenseless underside. Sure, it was still armored down there, but that didn't mean a whole lot if it couldn't fight back.

"Looks like we have a cliff to climb," Jaune sighed, stepping in its direction. "Anyone else not looking forward to this?"

Nope.

* * *

"Congratulations to Jaune Arc, Weiss Schnee, Blake Belladonna, and Yang Xiao Long who chose the White Knight pieces. And congratulations, Jaune Arc, for becoming the leader of Team Jabberwocky." (JWBY)

It should come as a surprise that Jaune didn't even think of the status. Instead, he was captivated by the name. It didn't seem to be a color, and... Wait, aren't two letters swap-

"Lastly, we have..."

Jaune ignored the rest of it, the introductions going for team RPRN. In silence, he followed behind his own as they made their way to the dorm. He hummed to himself, allowing the memories of the previous day to suffuse his mind. It was a chaotic mess- one filled with both danger and insanity.

But it was fun. Truly, it was. Even all the eccentricities of those around him compiled into something which would surely have been worse without it.

This is gonna be a great year.

He would live on to regret that.

It didn't take very long, either, as the door to the dorm refused to open.

Joy.


	3. Glacial Progress

**So, this chapter is a bit short, but I didn't feel like making it any longer than it had to be. I had some scenes planned to show how Ozpin was watching or how Yang was surprised with the outcome, but that feels like a pointless diversion. After all, Ozpin is always watching, and I don't think anyone (in the story) saw his victory coming.**

 **Except Ozpin, obviously.**

 **Anyway, I think the early release makes up for the shorter chapter. The next one should be back to normal, so expect it in the next 2-4 days.**

 **On a completely different note, would anyone like to beta for me? It's completely optional- all of my works have had essentially no outside help. However, I do think the influence of another would certainly help. I, for one, am not particularly good at dialogue... The friendly conversation that will be necessary for this story in particular.**

 **Yang's gonna be a nightmare. At least, most of the time.**

 **Message me if you'd like but do note that being a Beta for me would be more than just an editor- we'd essentially be writing the story together.**

 **And with that, I must bid you adieu.**

* * *

Jaune panted, his breath ragged and coming out in frustrated gasps. He'd only traded blows a few times by now, but it was already wearing on him. He just flat didn't have the stamina for this.

It was obvious to more than just himself if Cardin's taunting words were anything to go by.

"This is the part where you lose," he chided, putting all of his weight behind a sudden shove.

That was more than enough force to throw Jaune back, not that there was any doubt. Despite his above average height, his opponent towered over him and had the bulk to spare. His armor was equally massive, and the hardened steel easily deflected any attack sent his way.

Nothing about this fight was fair. Even Cardin's weapon held the advantage since just blocking the mace strikes would still deal vastly more damage than anything Crocea Mors was capable of.

As Jaune lifted himself to his feet, the frustration mounted within him. Why was he even here? This fight was decided entirely by who he was up against. His strength, his armor, his weapon, and surprisingly even his speed were sub-par. Sure, the extra weight kept Cardin from sprinting after him, but that was hardly necessary in such a small arena.

With a defiant warcry, Jaune leapt back into the fray with an overhead swing. This proved a mistake, however, when Cardin held up his weapon to easily defend, following that up with a knee to the gut.

The sudden pain flared through Jaune, forcing him to drop down. Fortunately, at least for him, his collapse resulted in Mrs. Goodwitch calling off the remainder of the match.

Forcing himself to his feet, Jaune drags himself over to his team. The only consolation his loss really had was the promise that he would grow stronger later.

And later seemed to be coming pretty quick, if what Mrs. G said about the Vytal festival was true. Several weeks- just a bit over a month- wasn't exactly a long time to get him into fighting shape.

His partner seemed to agree, if her vicious glare was anything to go by. He'd seen it before- on her, of course. Every spar he'd gotten into, he lost, and it seemed to take a toll on her mood regardless of who he ended up against. Seriously though, whose idea what it to put him against NORA? Even if he wasn't a fraud, he'd have been absolutely crushed. Her explosive weapon alone gave her an almost insurmountable advantage with ringing out as a victory option.

As Jaune collapsed back into his seat, he continued to feel the icy stare from his partner digging into him. It hadn't been that intense before... He dreaded to think about what that likely meant. Before now, it had generally be a lecture on improvement. Now...

"I am going to train you every day from now on. Am I understood?"

Weiss' words should have been more of a surprise than they really were. As it stands, all Jaune could do was let his head fall with a sigh while silently dreading the upcoming afternoon.

* * *

"What are you doing?"

Blake masked her surprise at having been snuck up on well. However, that didn't mean she hadn't been caught sneaking off from the training session to read.

"Whatever do you mean, Yang?" Her voice was calm, but just enough annoyance leaked into her tone to make the meaning clear. With Weiss on a personal mission to get Jaune prepared, her demands would no doubt escalate drastically. Physical conditioning wasn't really something she was interested, and that was before considering how pointless it would have been. She was strong, if not as much as Yang, but her style of combat relied entirely on outmaneuvering her opponent. Becoming a bigger target would be the last thing she needed.

"You're leaving me to her whims?"

 _Oh. She wanted to come with?_

She couldn't really blame her. Weiss was strict at the best of times, and Yang didn't really need exercise either. She'd proved as much in the ring several times. Yang didn't really need training so much as experience. She wasn't going to get that working with Jaune.

 _Though it would be amusing to see him scramble._

Jaune had actually done rather well against superior opponents, all things considered. He still always lost, but he avoided any strategy that failed and compiled it to build towards something more effective.

Either that, or she was looking into it too hard. It was difficult to tell sometimes. When you spent so long around people with so much to hide, you tended to look for explanations where there very well might be none.

Blake spared a glance back to the track where Jaune was busy running laps- Weiss by his side the entire time. The pace itself wasn't brutal, but the duration certainly was. So far, he'd been forced to run for about three miles, and the session was showing no signs of stopping.

He seemed so... Lazy, honestly. Despite his pumping arms, his head was drooped low in what was no doubt a combination of exhaustion and defeat. He wouldn't be getting out of it anytime soon.

"You think anything will come of the training?"

Yang seemed surprised by the words; her eyes widening as she leaned further back was more than enough to tell. Though, with how expressive Yang tended to be, reading her wasn't exactly a challenge.

"Jaune seems to have... Potential," she returned uncertainly. With a brief sigh, she turned back to watch him as well. "It's honestly a matter of time. Four years should be more than enough, running off of Weiss' work ethic, but he will inevitably be forced to prove himself long before graduation."

Blake nodded at the words, not having any reason to dispute that. Ignoring, for the moment, Cardin's abuse, other trials inevitably lurked ahead. One of them in particular drew an irritated glare to her face, but she quickly hid it. No use worrying anyone else. At least, not yet.

"So, you think this training regimen will work?" The answer might as well have been stated, but it was worth asking. Weiss was giving him what was presumably her own schedule, which didn't necessarily mesh well with his weapons. Endurance was great, which is why nobody hazarded a complaint when she brought up running. Well, nobody but Jaune, though he didn't really get a say in the matter.

"Well... He could always learn to fight differently, right?"

Yang's tone made Blake quirk an eyebrow. "How do you mean?"

"Hear me out. Jaune doesn't really seem to have the experience necessary to have built any real fighting style, right?" Blake nodded. "So what's stopping him from just acquiring someone elses? Oum knows Weiss could afford new gear for him."

There was a certain amount of sense in that, but it brought a slight frown to Blake's face. She didn't exactly want a second Schnee here, even if only in surrogate. Of course, she couldn't just say that, and she had no other reasons to really stop her. It would probably help Jaune, at least.

 _He could always learn from someone else._

The thought confused her for a second. The meaning was clear, but why had she of all people thought of it? It wasn't really her business, and she didn't have the advantages or position to do it effectively. Besides, teaching him would more than likely increase the odds she was found out.

There was no use getting herself caught now. She had just escaped that life, and letting it wither and die was too important to give even a slight gamble.

"Come on, Yang," Blake said while resuming their leave. "We might as well finish that essay for Ooblecks."

"Don't remind me," Yang groaned, suddenly drained of all energy. "A ten page essay is entirely too much work for one day."

 _Heh._ _If he layed off the jet fuel he mistook for coffee, perhaps he might even realize most people don't actually think that fast._

* * *

"Remind me... *Gasp* Never... *Pant* To run again," Jaune choked out, collapsing onto the ground as his lungs worked overtime to keep the rest of him alive.

He would need new ones by the end of the week.

"We're not done yet."

What fumes Jaune were running on suddenly vanished, his head lacking the energy to not plant itself directly into the ground. He didn't even manage to complain, a low whine replacing the words. And what brilliant words they would have been. So eloquent were they that the mere use of them would have brought peace to Remnant.

As it stands, all he got in return was Weiss prodding his back with the tip of her rapier while he could only whimper.

A minute passed in silence, if not for Jaunes still ragged breathing, before he finally had the will the pull himself off of the ground. Based on her lack of reaction, it wasn't likely she'd have let him get away with anything less.

"What's left, then?"

Her smile inspired more than enough regret at bringing it up again.

"You are going to try to hit me," she said simply, entering a fighting stance. "When you do, we're done for the day."

 _That's it?_ Jaune looked into her eyes, but saw no deceit there. Rather, there was a confident edge which told him there would be no mercy in this. They would fight until he landed that blow or they were pulled away for classes. Considering the time, that wouldn't be for half a day.

Steeling his own gaze, Jaune withdrew his blade. Or rather, his ancestors blade. Despite his willingness to stay, the weapon he carried with him stood as a reminder of how out of place he truly was.

Not that he really begrudged the weapon any when his panicked raising of the shield dealt with Weiss' opening strike.

 _She's fast,_ he noted, getting into a fighting stance, _but that wasn't her full speed._

Either he was getting faster, which he doubted quite highly, or she was going at least somewhat easy on him. That was... Good, actually, as his tired limbs begged him to stop. If she were going full bore, there'd be no way for him to get that strike in.

He only needed one, and he was going to get it.

Weiss had already ducked back from her earlier lunge, preparing to attack again, but Jaune was more than aware of it. If he left the initiative to her, he'd lose too. There was no other choice.

Letting out as monstrous a roar as he could- which wasn't much, all things considered- Jaune charged straight for her.

She didn't react, just continuing with her plan. As Jaune had his shield raised, she didn't go for a second lunge. Instead, when she sprung forward, it was to Jaune's side.

His left side.

His shield arm side.

 _Dammit,_ Jaune gnashed as he swung back around to face her. _We just started and she already found a weakness._

The shield component of Crocea Mors was not the best bashing weapon, and the added weight his armor and equipment bore didn't help with rapidly turning around. In seconds, she'd identified how to get past him with little risk to herself.

Can't really use a shield to defend your back.

Before Jaune could properly swing around, Weiss struck, launching him backwards with a blow to his shoulderblade. Surprisingly, the attack itself didn't hurt that much, but that hardly helped when his limbs were quaking with fatigue.

Ignoring the his arms protest, Jaune forced himself back up. Weiss obligingly waited, posture held in a loose defensive stance.

Jaune narrowed his eyes as he watched her carefully. He'd need a plan- something more complex than a single maneuver. Her raw athletic superiority would cut that out...

"Ah," he hummed, suddenly smiling. "That'll do."

* * *

Weiss would be the first to admit- Jaunes smile was the antithesis of comforting. It wasn't terrifying, for it seemed impossible for anything he did to be, but it carried it's own sinister edge. He had a plan, and one he seemed all too confident in.

 _No matter,_ Weiss dismissed with a slight shuffling of her feet. _That just means I need to be prepared._

And prepared she became, her already defensive stance becoming what she was more familiar with. No use going easy on him if he was actually motivated to work. Such pampering could only weaken who he became later.

He noticed the change in posture- that much was clear by the way his eyes checked on her moving feet. However, that kind of information wouldn't help. Knowing she would defend could hardly be called an advantage. His smile didn't fade, however, remaining plastered onto his face as he squared up opposite her.

Within a second, he was off, sprinting towards her with his shield abandoned on the ground behind him. _He would drop his only real defensive option?  
_

His aura was large- even she could tell- but at his level of exhaustion, that barely mattered. Even the loss of weight wouldn't matter in the long run.

 _He's going in like he did with Cardin. A desperate grasp for victory._

Letting her breath out in a near-silent sigh, she bent her knees. If he was planning to try the same move, she'd just have to show him how futile that truly was. As brutish as Cardin was, he was definitely going to be better at tanking a shot.

Hopefully her doing it would be a wake up call.

As before, Jaune raised Crocea Mors above his head, swinging the blade down on his approach. Similarly, Myrtenaster took the position of Cardin's mace, braced to block against all of Jaune strength.

Only, that impact never came.

Weiss took a step back, but that wasn't enough. As Jaunes sword sailed over her, having been abandoned mid-motion, she was left defenseless to his tackle. Jaune wasn't heavy, but at a full sprint and with no time to prepare...

 _Heh, well played,_ she thought with a smile growing over her features.

Which fell away the instant they crashed into the ground, the heiress only then realizing they were still outside on the grass.

He would pay for soiling her dress, she'd make sure of it. For now, she tilted her head down at him, and felt a tinge of camaraderie seeing his face light up at the victory. That could wait a few minutes. He wasn't going anywhere fast.


	4. Permafrost

**Gelu Melos.**

 **Heh. While I write, I usually have a song playing on repeat. Something without lyrics, so I don't process the words either. It would affect my writing.**

 **Turns out, the first video I came across was a song by Gunnar Olsen. You might recognize the name, Cold Rise.**

 **Hahahaha! How fitting. Unfortunately, Permafrost is an indirect reference to Forever Fall, so I found it more fitting. Still, I got a kick out of it.**

 **Ahem. Anyway, I gotta get back to work. This chapter isn't going to finish itself. I will see you next time.**

* * *

"Wake up."

Jaune resisted the call of the voice. Sleep was warm- it was comfortable. Unfortunately, even has he tried to snuggle further into the blankets, he was forced into the land of the living.

"What?" he asked, voice as dry as Vacou. He was up, and that wasn't going to change, but they had better have a good reason for waking him.

"Seems he wants to... Forever Fall! Eh?"

Yang's joke went ignored. It wasn't terrible- by her standards- and it answered the question, but there was no use encouraging her. He liked his ears where they were, thank you very much. It did, however, cause Jaune to fly out of bed.

With haste rivaling that of Ruby, he flitting about the room, throwing on his equipment and packing up his things.

It was only once he'd strapped Crocea Mors to his side that he looked at the time.

It was 6:38.

"Weiss..." he growled under his breath, but his anger quickly faded. She wanted them to be prepared, and it wasn't exactly her fault he was so- Okay, it was entirely her fault he was so tired the day prior. Huh. Neat.

She hadn't reacted to him, however, and he wasn't about to pick a fight with her. If nothing else, it would give him time to grab some food before their only class today. It just had to be Oobleck, though, didn't it? The one teacher who would likely assign an absurd homework assignment on the day they had no time to complete it.

 _Great,_ he sighed, slumping onto his bed. In truth, Oobleck wasn't really what scared him. Odds are, Jaune wouldn't do it anyway. Lord knows he give them enough essays to do that skipping one wouldn't even touch your grade. No... Forever Fall had Grimm. Sure, he had been able to trick Weiss once, but that didn't really speak of any skill on his part. It's not like a Grimm was going to show mercy or go on the defensive in the first place.

But he had his team with him, and there was no doubt they would fight by his side. That was a problem, in a way. He needed to get stronger in order to be a hero, and that wasn't going to happen if they dogged his steps. They'd probably lay off if he asked, but he also wanted the protection inherent in their presence...

It was a difficult thing to think about, and he had another forty minutes to

"Alright, Endymion, let's go," Weiss' voice called from the doorway. It took a moment for Jaune to even process that she meant him.

Endymion was a mythical figure cursed with eternal sleep- he was just sprawled out on... his bed...

Nevermind.

His eyes flicked up to a clock which was mounted above the door. Sure enough, it read 7:15. A bit earlier than he'd planned, but that hardly mattered now. _Where did the time go? Am I just that slow a thinker?_

He blinked ruefully at the clock when it turned 7:16.

"Fine," Jaune conceded, jumping to his feet. They had a class to get to.

* * *

"And now we conclude the history of the Faunus War." There was a great sigh of relief from virtually everyone in the room, but he hadn't finished. "We will be returning to it in the second semester of your third year when we discuss battle tactics against militant groups."

 _You know, that sounds a lot more exciting than the rest of your lessons,_ Jaune mused, letting his head slam onto the desk before him. He had to attend, obviously, and thanks to a certain Schnee princess, he had to be awake for it too. At least Oobleck wasn't as incessantly boring as Port was. How he didn't notice a good 80% of his class sleeping was utterly beyond him, though he had no idea if he had. After all, you can't really read facial expressions from the realm of the deep.

If nothing else, even Weiss relented on how useless a good half of his classes were.

"And so we move on," Oobleck stated, flipping one of the whiteboards to reveal an entire lesson plan. Even without that, though, the room let out a collective sigh. At least he didn't test them on any of this. "Are any of you familiar with the history of Jericho Falls?"

He waited, looking among his students for a volunteer. None came, and it didn't take a genius to figure out why. Even Weiss looked like she only recognized the name, and so wasn't confident in standing up before the class. _That would ruin my reputation,_ he imagined her remarking to him.

"Very well. I won't ask any of you to do a paper on it until next week, but I do implore you to do some research on your own. I can't cover everything, after all." Another essay. Great. Thought, a week? That was new. He assigned the things almost daily. Was the subject that complicated? "In the remaining minute or so I have with you, I would like to discuss a recent expedition to the ruin."

He took a pause, nodding along to something in his thoughts as he scanned the room once more.

"Jericho Falls is likely the oldest ruin on Remnant."

 _And like that, you've lost me,_ Jaune remarked, letting his head fall onto his arms. As he had said, the clock was ticking. Odds are, he wouldn't miss anything.

 **RING!**

"Thank you for your time, students. Have a wonderful time on your field trip." With a brief flourish, he did a quick bow before slipping out of the room with speed even Ruby would be jealous of. Not that anyone was surprised by that- it was a staple by this point.

"Come on, Jaune," Weiss ordered, rising from her seat. "We must be prudent."

 _And here I thought_ I _was the team leader._

He sighed, following her instructions. In truth, she was probably better suited for it anyway. It was a miracle she hadn't demanded he revoke his position, but that was probably because he listened to her implicitly. Despite her upbringing, she didn't seem to be one for titles. The results were all that mattered.

That was something he could get behind. His dream of being a hero wasn't for the glory, either- though it was certainly a huge benefit. To be looked on by all...

Jaune's thoughts were interrupted by the realization that he was standing on a bullhead. Rather, the realization that it was taking off.

He chuckled to himself, but nobody else seemed to find the vomit now coating the floor very funny.

"It's a very common condition," Jaune defended, though his continued laughing didn't exactly inspire confidence. They let it pass, distracting themselves with conversation. That worked for him- he had to think anyway.

What was he gonna do? He had a general plan, but no clue what to do now. Being a hero entailed being strong, so training was an obvious part, but even that was vague. Beacon had combat classes, but no guides or classes existed for training specifically. It was just something you were supposed to do.

 _Just as you're supposed to make your own weapons,_ he recalled with a glance down at Crocea Mors. It was a good blade, and certainly stood the test of time, but it limited him quite heavily. Having access to melee combat exclusively, he was hamstrung when dealing with everyone but Cardin, and even then it failed to even the playing field. A shield wasn't often much use against swords or clubs anyway since the force itself took away Aura.

Perhaps a bit of combat would solve everything. Besides against Cardin, specifically. Continuing to fight his perfect counter wouldn't serve much of a purpose.

 _He only counters me since I use Crocea Mors,_ he reminded himself. All the more reason to get something new since Mrs. Goodwitch seemed adamant that the two fight repeatedly. Perhaps she thought it a learning exercise for him.

It wasn't.

Well, it taught him to dodge, if that counts. Cardin was powerful and nigh invulnerable to his weapons, but his movement had large tells, so he could dodge a good 75% of attacks thrown his way, and block most of the rest.

That was actually pretty high for someone with no training, especially taking his own armor into account, but that could mostly be attributed to his opponent's cumbersome weapon. The mace weighed about double the combined weight of everything Jaune carried. It wasn't exactly a finesse weapon.

Much like the Ursae, it was better off aiming for that one blow that downs the enemy instantly. Aura prevented cuts pretty well, but brute force?

Problem is, that kind of strategy didn't translate well to a one handed sword. If he could get a bigger one, maybe...

But that would mean abandoning a family heirloom- an heirloom he stole, no less. And just to beat Cardin. _Not happening,_ he affirmed, nodding to himself. It wasn't worth disrespecting the Yellow Death. If he was going to get a new weapon, it would be for more than just that.

But that sentiment carried it's own issues. He had no experience in design, no idea who to commission to build it, and no funds to work with- well, he had some, but the school supply provision wasn't going to be nearly enough.

Who to talk to about it, then... If everyone else made their own weapons, surely he could find someone with the knowhow. Besides Ren and Nora, whose weapons looked fairly simple in comparison, everyone seemed to have complex armaments. Even Cardin's mace had a toggled dust chamber inside to make the target explode. Okay, it just coated them in fire, but the force of the impact certainly made it look like an explosion.

Ruby? She had said she'd designed and built Crescent Rose by herself, and that thing was a marvel of engineering unto itself. Even beyond the intricacies of putting a high-impact sniper rifle onto a scythe, the compacting function alone must have been nigh impossible to create. However, Jaune had a feeling that wouldn't go well. Anyone who knew her even loosely would understand how passionate she got about weapons. It wouldn't surprise him in the slightest if, after the request, he was handed a dual-swords, sword/shield, laser cannon, shotgun-staff. Okay, the staff part, maybe, but the rest?

That brought up the problem of money again. As far as he knew, Ruby, Yang, Blake, Nora, and Ren weren't exactly rolling in the dough. Pyrrha should be, with her status as a champion, and she'd be more than willing... But how to approach her about it? She shouldn't have any idea about his deficits, and he had no reason to change her mind on that subject.

Perhaps he could just ask Weiss. She did say the Schnee family was almost boundlessly wealthy, and her rapier didn't look simple either. She was his partner too, so should at least begrudgingly help regardless.

"Hey, Weiss?" he called before his thoughts could come up with a reason for him to stop. "Did you design Myrtenaster yourself?"

She spared a moment to just look at him- likely gauging his expression- before she answered. "Not entirely. My sister helped me with the rotary dust chamber. Why do you ask?"

He swallowed, using the momentary delay to gather his thoughts. At least with her, he might only have one chance to ask. "I was thinking of getting an upgrade of sorts to Crocea Mors, but can't do it myself."

"Hm..."

That sound didn't exactly inspire confidence, especially with the way she seemed lost within her own mind as she considered how to answer.

The worry was for not, however, as she nodded a few seconds later. "I suppose I could help you with that, but I want something in return." She waited for him to give his agreement. "You are to continue the training regimen I gave you without complaint. Your reputation reflects on me, and you are going to get stronger or Oum help you."

He winced, but the sound seemed to go unnoticed as she continued to stare at him. It took a moment, but Jaune realized what she was looking for.

"Oh, sure," he affirmed, awkwardly rubbing the back of his neck. "So, when can we get started?"

"I'll see what I can get my hands on once we return. For now, though..." she trailed off, gesturing to the landing site they were fast approaching.

 _Right, right, Forever Fall._ They still hadn't been told what their assignment was, but it was clearly important if Miss Goodwitch was taking over thirty students into Grimm infested woods for it.

 _Actually, if there's an eternal autumn here, is there an eternal winter somewhere?_ The poles would obviously meet the criteria, but they still had seasons. Forever Fall didn't, really. _And what would you even call it? Perpetual Winter? Nah, that's stupid. Permafrost?_

It wasn't important, he told himself as the Bullhead finally landed. He'd need only think on it if they ever found suck a place.

For now...

* * *

Cardin smiled widely as his team stepped off of their bullhead. Sky walked beside him with a sealed box, and the slight hum emanating from it reminded everyone of exactly what they were here to do.

Pyrrha had been a thorn in their side since her arrival. Stepping into their fights, protecting those they picked on, and even showing them up in class... It was infuriating. Fortunately, that ended today.

Goodwitch rattled off their task for today, but she was handily ignored by team CRDL. They already knew why they were there, and had time to prepare. Who said having remedial lessons with Professor Peach was a bad thing?

Well, him, but that was in the past. At least it wasn't Port whose stories of his youth alone could down even the most powerful Grimm.

Perhaps it was his semblance?

He wouldn't be surprised, but a slight glower appeared on Cardin's face at the thought. His own semblance wasn't nearly as useful. Healing yourself of moderate injuries hardly mattered when his armor and aura nullified almost all damage outside of blunt force, which was then already healed by aura.

However, it was that very same quirk which made this the perfect plan. Even if it backfired and the Rapier Wasps went for him, they couldn't so much as hurt him. Then, with a single flare of his mace, he could kill all those around him.

Collecting the sap would be easy. Besides a few Ursae here and there, the woods were practically abandoned, and a good half of the trees deluged sap.

Dove stood over Cardin, a grin plastered on his face as he handed the fifth bottle to his leader. He accepted it with his own smile, though it had more of a sinister tone. He would do the honors and end their problems.

Wiping his armor clean with one hand, Cardin lifted himself to his feet. The sounds of team JWBY and RPNR talking amongst themselves was audible, even from the distance they were at.

They were just making this too easy on him.

Cardin made his way to the edge of a short cliff overlooking an equally small clearing. From there, he could easily see both of the teams and pick out his target.

She was squatted down in front of a tree, filling up a jar with sap.

 _No worries, I got your sap right here,_ Cardin joked, testing the weight of the glass bottle by tossing it up and down beside him. After his brief tests, he held his arm back, poised to throw.

And then, he did.

* * *

The sound of shattering glass stole everyone's attention. Even Jaune, whose instincts weren't nearly as refined as those of his team, whipped around to the source.

Shards of what looked like the jars they were provided littered the ground, drenched in sap. The same could easily be said of the one it had hit.

They didn't even have time to process the event when, not more than a second later, deafening hum came from the same direction the bottle had evidently be thrown from. _Rapier wasps,_ Jaune noted before the panic had a chance to set in. They weren't Grimm, so they wouldn't be drawn to you unless...

Jaune blinked, looking towards the victim of what had to be an intentional attack. The timing was impossible to argue against.

The rapier wasps did whatever the aerial equivalent of dashing is, arriving at their target within seconds.

And then they were gone- completely incinerates as Yang burst into flames. Her red eyes traced the direction they'd come from, locking onto a pair of blue not more than thirty feet away.

For the first time ever, Jaune felt kind of bad for Cardin. Only kind of, though.

The fight, if you could even call it that, lasted approximately twelve seconds, and most of that was spent with Yang finding and dragging the rest of Team Cardinal into her righteous fury. If nothing else, it gave him an idea for one of Cardin's weakness.

He was vulnerable to people punching him through trees.

Sure, HE couldn't use that for anything, but it was still worth keeping in mind.

As Yang clapped her hands clean of nonexistent dirt, she returned to grab her bottles. As did the rest of Jaune's team, having no doubt that justice had been dispensed.

It's not like Yang suffered, really. Unlike her hair or clothing, her semblance had no qualms about obliterating the sap, so you couldn't even tell she'd been so much as touched by the normally obtrusive substance.

Watching Cardin struggle to get up was... Kind of amusing, to be honest. It's not like he didn't deserve something in return for his animosity. Maybe something less extreme, sure, but it's not like he was in any dang-

 **ROAR!**

The sound alone was enough to cut the train of thought entirely. It was loud, visibly stirring trees with the just the air pressure.

Jaune didn't even have to turn to recognize the Ursa, but he did anyway. It was massive, easily twice his size from its bipedal position, and that was just in height. Was it drawn by the sap? No, it couldn't be... Nora had spilled at least two bottles worth while guzzling it down.

 _Negativity,_ his mind helpfully provided. At least, it thought it was being helpful, but it took a moment for Jaune to realize what his own brain had meant. Cardin and his team were in pain and clearly suffering as a result.

It didn't take a genius to figure out they probably weren't feeling too hot.

"Well, shit," Jaune swore, drawing Crocea Mors. He was anything but happy to be here, but he could hardly leave Cardin and his team to die.

All he needed to do was by time... If they could recover, they would help him. Right?

Right?

Jaune shook his head, dismissing such thoughts. This wasn't the time for doubts. A single mistake could cost him or one of his classmates their life, and he wasn't willing to live with that. Or... Or die with that.

The Ursa fell onto all fours, it's muscles rippling visibly beneath its coat of fur. The white spikes atop its back spoke of age, but the lack of markings upon them showed inexperience as well.

That was... Something.

With a seconds roar, this one quieter but no less ferocious, the Ursa charged Jaune.

Fear suffused his mind, but he pushed past that, ducking into a roll out of its swipe.

The beast followed him, skidding across the ground as it bore down on him once more. It wasn't nearly as stable in its movements, however, its momentum screwing with its movement. Jaune took advantage, deflecting a swing of its paws along the edge of his shield while ducking beneath his arm.

As he stepped back from the beasts side, he slashed, granting him first blood. The strike didn't mean much unto itself, but it told him he had a chance.

He could do this.

The Ursa glared at him, hate evident in its gaze, as it gauged him for a moment. If he wasn't taught that they were mindless, he'd almost think it was coming up with a strategy, but it was more likely judging just how much of a threat he was.

Not much of one, apparently, as it took a single step forward to thrust one of its hefty arms straight at him.

Jaune sidestepped the initial attack, but was forced to move back to evade a followup swipe. It seemed more cautious now, at least treating him as a nuisance rather than a snack.

At least it bought him time, allowing him to stall. Jaune spared a glance to his left, noting Team Cardinal pulling themselves up. Fear was evident in their faces, and Cardin was the only one with a weapon out.

Not exactly an inspiring image, and the distraction cost him as the Ursa slammed its pawns down into the ground, shaking the topsoil and ruining his balance.

It didn't hurt by itself, but the rippling ground left him completely unable to dodge the Ursa's downward swing.

Jaune sailed back, whirling around in the air as he was sent flying into a tree. He groaned, blinking a few times in a vain attempt to get Remnant to stop spinning. It was only when it did that Jaune noted the Ursa charging him yet again and a mere second away from him.

He threw himself to the side, narrowly dodging the monstrous Grimm as it barreled straight through the tree.

No time was left for him to prepare, however, as the Ursa spun around, using its current momentum with the ground to gain traction. It sprung forward, reversing direction within seconds, and sprinting after him yet again.

Jaune raised his left arm, prepared to at least minimize the damage, but a look of realization cross his face as it rises into view.

His shield wasn't on it anymore.

Panic races through him, but it was too late. The Ursa was upon him.

Its raised arms swung down towards him, intent to crush him completely.

They never made it, the Ursa veering wildly off target as more than twenty pounds of metal smashed into the side of its face. Cardin was breathing heavily from the exertion, obviously giving his all as he heaved the weapon back up onto his shoulder. His team was absent, apparently having either hidden or run. Jaune honestly couldn't blame them.

The two shared a nod before focusing their attention on the recovering Ursa. It seemed mostly fine, the only sign of the previous attack being a round indent in its jaw.

Only a second passed before its eyes locked on them, it's eyes embodying its rage and hate. Good. The more recklessly it fought, the better for them.

It didn't charge, having apparently learned after making that mistake so many times. Instead, it lowered its body toward the ground, using the bone armor atop its body as a natural shield while leaving it poised to strike on a moments notice.

That could have worked, but there were two of them now. With a silent signal- the slight movement of one hand- Jaune and Cardin disperse, moving to either side of the beast. It couldn't track both of them- everyone knew that.

Grimm could tell too, since it didn't bother, instead breaking its guard to lunge at Jaune.

He smiled at that, watching with more calm than he had any right to feel as the Ursa's leap was cut short by a heavy weight crashing onto its back. Cardin had done more than enough, immobilizing the Grimm for a brief moment.

It was more than enough.

Jaune roared, matching the inhuman cries of the Ursa, as he swung his sword down and into its neck, severing muscle and flesh with ease. With a sickening squelch, the head came lose, flung aside by the force behind the blade.

And then the body fell, going limp- an action soon followed by Jaune as exhaustion kicked in.

He'd done it.

* * *

 **Hehehe. Chekov's gun. That is all.**


	5. Chilled Steel

**You all have no idea how relaxing it is to be able to slough off canon completely. This chapter has exactly 1 scene involving canon, but the rest of it is pure unadulterated fucking-with-the-protagonist, my favorite past time.  
**

 **Okay, he's not really getting screwed over or anything. This story is actually pretty mild for me. Generally he'd have met some eldritch monstrosity or battled an elder god by now. Perhaps I'm losing my touch?**

 **Nah, it's fine. Might as well save that stuff for the sequel. :P**

 **Seriously though, this chapter is pretty cool and I hope you like it. This should also satisfy the whinier of my corespondents who complain incessantly about following the events of canon. Yay! Less annoyance!**

 **If you have any genuine criticism, please leave a review. Despite my actually rather long career in writing (I started back in fifth grade) I am not god. I am also looking for anyone who is good with dialogue, as I am not nearly as... Saccharine as the characters in this story are supposed to be, which makes it hard to write what they say.**

 **Thank you for the favorites, thank you for the follows, and thank you for reading. Cheers.  
**

* * *

 _Warm..._

Jaune defied the will of the comforting presence, grasping desperately at the cloth to keep it by him. It was comfortable, and he felt like he needed it. He was jut getting some rest... That's all.

 _Cold..._

His eyes snapped open at the thought, suddenly aware of the temperature dropping drastically. His sleep addled mind could barely process what he was seeing, but the thin veil of ice encroaching on his bed didn't change because he couldn't process it.

On the other hand, his body was more than willing to get the hell out of the cold.

The covers fly off at equal speed to Jaune as he rolls out of bed. Fortunately, his reflexes also catch him before he crashes into the ground, so Jaune wakes up in plank position.

"Raring to get started, huh?" Yang teased from across the room. Jaune eyed her warily, but conceded the point with a sigh.

Today was the first day covered by the agreement between he and Weiss. In exchange for help getting a new weapon, she had the right to work him to the bone getting him physically to her level.

Shoving off the ground, Jaune throws himself to his feet. He would remark about how good it felt to let the air rush past him, but he'd learned to not give Weiss new ideas. He'd long regret reminding her that he needed strength training.

Well, regret it in the short term, be thankful in the long term. It was pretty obvious he needed the training, as excruciating as it would be.

Jaune spared a moment to check his scroll. No messages, but there was a PSA from the school about having the following Monday off. _Yay..._

"So, what are we starting with?" She clearly wanted to begin immediately. Why else would she freeze his bed to wake him up?

"Actually, we're not training quite yet." _Oh?_ Jaune perked up, turning to face her with a raised brow. "While we will do conditioning later, most of my plan requires you to have a weapon. There's not much point if you're just going to replace it shortly."

That made sense. Why should he keep training with Crocea Mors if he wasn't going to...

 _Wait..._

"What if we just modify Crocea Mors itself, keeping the same style?" Images raced through his mind of possible additions to the blade. A gun in the crossguard; flames coating the blade; how about a secondary transformation to make a two handed longsword?

"That would work. Do you have any ideas?"

 _Too many,_ Jaune remarked, but remained silent. If her weapon was anything to go off of, she'd find a way to have everything worth having. _But what should I actually do? My biggest weakness is in range, but I have zero experience even holding a firearm..._

Most of the ideas fell into that category. He'd need to learn an entirely new fighting style, which made keeping Crocea Mors redundant.

 _Perhaps a distraction tool, then?_ Getting into melee would solve his problem fighting ranged opponents, so some way to deter attacks while engaging would be more than sufficient for that. But that didn't offer anything once he got into melee, and he still had to worry about people he flat couldn't approach like Cardin.

Jaune glanced towards Yang. Her weapon discharged dust rounds on strike, but that wouldn't mesh well with a sword, but it was something to keep in mind. He was working with the heiress to the Schnee Dust Company, after all. Use of dust was hardly an issue.

Blake? He'd barely seen her weapon. Even in initiation, she'd used the gun component all of once to shoot at the Nevermore. Had she done anything else?

 _Ribbon._

He blinked, barely believing he'd forgotten that. When she'd fallen off the gorge, she'd used her weapon like a grappling hook to swing back up.

However, the ribbon probably wasn't meant for that. More than likely, it was to be a binding tool, like many might use a lasso, but with a more lethal edge. _Keeping the opponent still, huh?_

A glint appeared in his eyes as he turned towards Weiss Myrtenaster rested at her hip, and it contained all the hint he needed.

"I want Ice Dust attachments for my sword and shield, for two different purposes."

That seemed to get her attention. Jaune smiled at the silent question, but also the curiosity held within her eyes.

"My biggest problems are going to be a lack of ranged weaponry and my inability to deal with faster or tougher opponents. Using Ice Dust, I can get around both." He paused, picking up his shield. "If this could cool the air, the temperature difference would create artificial fog of sorts- a cloud, if you will. This would act as cover on my approach while also acting as a last ditch melee escape tool."

He waited for her to nod before continuing.

"The second attachment, meanwhile," he began, picking up his sword and tracing a line across the center of the blade with one finger. "Well, I could deal with both types of opponents. It's hard to be fast or tough when you can't move." Jaune smirked, gesturing to Myrtenaster. "You'd know that better than me."

"You must of put a lot of thought into that," a voice chimed in from across the room. "How long you been thinking about it?"

Jaune turned to Blake, surprised by her input. Generally she was silent in the dorm, content to read her books while ignoring the rest of them. However, it was about that time that Jaune recognized her sarcasm. She seemed more than aware of his... Lapse in thought.

"About two days," he said, though she probably heard something more along the lines of 'thirty seconds'. He really needed to work on the nervousness of his voice.

To be fair to him, though, two days ago was the day they'd made the agreement, and the previous was taken up entirely by recovery. Luckily, at least from what a second year told him when they'd met in the cafeteria, he hadn't been injured enough to visit Tsune. Whoever that was.

"Would you like to design it yourself?" Weiss' words brought his attention back to the matter at hand. "I would be willing to help, but many are very... Defensive over their weapons."

Jaune nodded, remembering an incident he'd been fortunate enough to avoid with Ruby. Someone called her out for having an unfair weapon, and, well... He will probably think twice before dissing anymore girls with giant scythes strapped to their backs.

It came as a surprise that more people hadn't complained about Nora in the same way, but perhaps they thought better of it without an example beforehand.

 _Heh. They might think that about my weapon when it's done._

Being frozen solid was kind of hard to work around, and thought it might not be designed that powerfully, that was his hope. Thermodynamics was not his friend here, but hopefully sheer force of Dust could solve that particular gaping hole in its design.

"Well, since you're going to be keeping Crocea Mors, we can get to work right away. Care for a spar?" Jaune looked up at her in disbelief, but her face was deadly serious. It had barely been a week since her earlier challenge, and now she wanted to fight? How was any of this fair?

Jaune merely shook his head, though, sucking it up. He had agreed to train with her, and this was just a part of that.

Who knows, maybe he could even win.

He laughed even as he thought the words. _Yeah, right._

* * *

"Junior, Junior, Junior," Roman smarmed from across the bar. "What are we gonna do with you."

The man in question narrowed his eyes but remained silent. Perhaps he was learning some discretion at long last.

"I try to hire the best of the best, and your men couldn't stand up to a fifteen year old girl." He clicked his tongue several times in as demeaning a way as possible. "Perhaps we should put an end to our little arrangement?"

"With all due respect, my men-"

Roman raised a hand, drawing a hiss from the bear faunus.

"With all due respect, sir," he choked out, the tone making it apparent how little respect the title actually carried. "My men were never trained to battle huntresses. She may be young, but it's hardly my fault that we couldn't predict the future."

That got a set of slow nods from the redhead, but they ended quite abruptly when Melodic Cudgel slammed onto the counter.

"This isn't the kind of operation you screw around with, Junior," Roman growled, leaning in further. The twins obviously noticed the aggression, taking to each of Junior's sides, but were cowed slightly when Neo smiled at them. "I have some very powerful people riding on me, and I claimed that you were good. If we fail again, we might both lose our heads."

"Then I want no part of it."

Roman's raised his free hand to one ear. "What was that?"

"If what you say is true, it would be suicide to work with you anyway. Your little excursions are simply going to attract more attention to me."

A sigh escaped Roman, but he stood up to leave.

"Don't think this means you're home free," he cautioned as he left the room. "I may have some beasts of burden on call, but I was counting on you."

He turns pauses at the door for a final warning.

"Try to avoid the fire for me, alright kid?"

There was no time to wait for an answer. If he wasn't going to have Junior's help, this afternoon's plans just got a little more complicated.

* * *

Blake sighed.

She'd been doing that a lot lately. News about the activity of the White Fang was readily available, and it didn't take a genius to imagine why. Everyone knew their name, so news companies could use them for headlines and make millions. Okay, millions was probably overkill, but the point remained. Why produce relevant or useful content when you can just slap a name on there and call it an afternoon?

That was annoying, but trying to guess what Adam was up to seemed far worse. The Fang was completely ignoring the civilians, even the humans, and just taking the dust.

Why would they bother? They wouldn't, right? They were only directly reported at two of the robberies, and that was reasonable. Was the media just pinning the blame on them instead of Roman? It was possible, but _why?_

That question lingered over everything she read. Store after store were stolen from, but no links were held between them. Some of them even had faunus employees, which was just asking to be published online. "White Fang Rob Faunus Blind!" one headline proclaimed, _but that just makes no sense!_

None of this did, and it was infuriating.

It might be better if she could blow off some steam or at least _do something_ about it, but she couldn't. At least, not yet. She couldn't just go out and stake out a random place- it could be weeks before anyone arrived, and it would be entirely possible for Torchwick to show up and make the effort pointless.

Blake set her scroll down, pulling out a book instead. She would let it go, for now.

 **"Excuse me miss, dreadfully sorry for the interruption, but-"**

She silenced her scroll.

 _Ugh..._

* * *

"You beat her?"

Jaune glowered at the level of shock present in Yang's voice. He could barely blame her, but did she have to be so rude about it? He wasn't exactly a pushover.

Okay, that's not true, but he was a durable pushover.

The spar had gone about as well as his fight with her had. She was too fast, and he had to come up with some outlandish trick in order to win. Letting her land a direct shot to his chest while grabbing onto the edge of her rapier?

That definitely counted.

Weiss was certainly powerful, but most of that hinged on her semblance and weapon. Without Myrtenaster, it had been as simple as chipping her aura away with his superior physical strength.

She probably felt cheated, but that was fine. He could deal with her mood later. For now, he could relax.

"So, it's about time we got started on your weapon upgrade." _Or that,_ he cheered as he flew to her side. "You explained your idea for the dust mechanisms. How are you going to store the dust itself?"

Jaune paused, setting Crocea Mors down on the table before him. Some kind of built in canister was pretty obvious, so the question was probably more along the lines of where. The shield was kind of obvious- just add an additional exterior plate which had a hollow interior.

The sword was less simple. The crossguard or handle seemed fairly obvious, but he would be relying quite heavily on swordplay, so it would take a lot of effort to balance it out...

"If I want to be able to freeze my opponents, how much dust am I going to be carrying, anyway?"

Weiss glances at Myrtenaster for a second before shrugging. "Dust is incredibly powerful- the average Dust cartridge contains a fraction of a pound. If you can use it properly, a kilogram should be more than sufficient."

 _A kilo!? That's like 200 Lien!_

Jaune chuckled to himself at the thought. He was working with Weiss of all people- that wasn't going to be a problem.

"Alright. Do you think we could fit that into the handle, with some sort of dispersal mechanism along the side of the blade?"

She nodded, placing a piece of graph paper on the only desk in the room to sketch out her ideas. Most of them seemed to involve internal vents being placed within Crocea Mors which would either expel the dust forward or out.

The internal chamber was either within the blade itself or in a hollow version of the crossguard. That would normally have compromised the weapon, making it worthless, but aura was capable of reinforcing it. How else could Ruby or Nora keep their weapon in one piece?

"That doesn't seem very efficient."

Jaune shot up into the air in surprise, completely caught off guard at Blake's approach. She seemed eerily good at that- sneaking up on people, that is.

"What do you mean?" Weiss' indignant voice complained from right beside her. "The weapon is supposed to freeze people solid, and they're not exactly gonna sit still and let it happen. Of course it's gonna waste some Dust."

Blake rolled her eyes, the casual movement of the yellow orbs doing little to hide her rigid posture. "Figures that you would have no issues with wasting Dust."

"Excuse you?" Weiss stood up from her chair, her expression furious, but Blake didn't falter at her gaze.

"All I'm saying is the recent spree of robberies hasn't made it easy on the rest of us, and I don't see how you doing this is helping anyone- especially him. You can't cover the costs for Jaune forever."

Her pale blue eyes met gold, the silent fury clear in both. "Are you insinuating that I am at fault for the White Fang robbing my family blind?"

"No," Blake dismissed while crossing her arms. "However, _your_ _family_ is responsible for their militant approach in the first place."

Nobody missed the venom in that, let alone Weiss.

Jaune took the opportunity to step back from the fight. It was already too far gone.

* * *

"You... Take that back."

Blake remained silent, looking down on her. How... How _dare_ she!?

"I am not my father, nor am I the SDC, and even then, we're not responsible for the White Fang. They are a bunch of inhuman degenerates who are worse than the Grimm we train to fight."

Weiss' seething anger seemed to give Blake pause, but that was perhaps an illusion, as she narrowed her eyes in equal rage. What did she even have to be angry about? She wasn't being targeted her whole life by an entire terrorist organization.

"And how exactly are they worse than Grimm, then? The same could easily be said about you and the SDC- putting Faunus into what amounts to slavery."

"We're the only place that hires them to begin with!" The cry bought a moment of silence, which Weiss used to catch her breath. "Atlas is an unforgiving place, and we're at least trying. And you want to know why they aren't exactly hospitable or why _I know_ the White Fang are worse then Grimm? It's fairly simple really. When the Grimm try to kill me or those I care for, they are at least mindless. They can't think better of it. The White Fang, on the other hand, are more than-"

"Shut up," she managed, voice quivering.

Weiss crossed her arms, ignoring her. "They know that what they're doing is wrong."

"JUST SHUT UP!" The entire room fell silent at Blake's command; even the wind obeyed. "You don't know what we went through!"

Realization crossed over Weiss' face at those words, recognition soon dawning on Blake as well. Weiss made to speak, but was stopped as Blake sprinted from the room, easily vanishing into the corridors of Beacon.

She was gone.

 _Oh._

* * *

 **Ah, another chapter done. This one is a bit shorter than my original goal, but I figured this was a good stopping point. It's coming a whole day early anyway, so who cares about a measly thousand words, right?**

 **It's not like I'm running on an actual schedule.**

 **Please continue to review. I am loving getting some real comments. My longest story, Fickle Things, got less than 1 review per chapter, so I'm loving the change of pace. I do need to improve my writing, and instant feedback is a huge part of it.**

 **Still looking for someone to help with dialogue. If you're open, feel free to message me or leave a review.**

 **Also do remember, I reply to every review at the bottom of the first chapter. It's done in chronological order, so it might take some digging to find the one you're looking for. Regardless, it will be on there.**

 **Thank you all, and have a good night. I'm gonna go collapse onto my bed now. Peace.**


	6. Ice-olation

**Do note, before I begin, that the last chapter went through several iterations because of how much I suck at dialogue. I encourage you to read it again.**

 **Fortunately, this chapter has no such problems. Just straight-forward combat and conflict born from pure hatred.**

 **My cup of tea.**

 **If you need me, I'll be enjoying my mug. Tata~**

* * *

Blake still hadn't come back.

Yang lowered her head onto her hands, completely ignoring Port's lesson. That wasn't surprising, but she would normally have been asleep by this point.

That wasn't an option; not with her partner out there. It had been an entire day already, and not so much as a message in answer. She and Jaune had both attempted to call, with no response there either.

What was she was supposed to do? She could try exploring town, as they had originally planned to do yesterday, but the odds of finding her...

No, it had to be done. Failure wasn't an option.

But she couldn't just go by herself, either. It would defeat the purpose. She needed to drag the others along, likely on the pretense of making up for lost time. Jaune would be on board with the plan- probably. He seemed open to helping.

 _What are you doing, Blake?_

* * *

Blake pinched the bridge of her nose, rubbing it in an attempt to distract herself from the stress. Here she was, alone in Vale, while her team was no doubt panicking over her.

Well, Yang was, and maybe Jaune.

Weiss though... She was probably just fine. If anything, she might be afraid at having slept not twenty feet from an ex White Fang member. She didn't understand, though... None of them did. But how to make them?

There weren't a lot of options. She'd planned to just bury her past, leave it behind. At worst, Ozpin should have been the only one to know where she'd come from.

Now... She didn't even know. It felt hopeless, even before thinking about her exit. They didn't even know she'd left the organization, so recovery was going to be complicated.

Blake sighed as a familiar jingle notified her of another message from Yang. Now wasn't the time- she needed some way to prove to them she wasn't with the Fang, and even that might not be enough. This whole life- the stack of cards she'd been building- it might all just crumble away because of a single slip of the tongue.

Why had she been so angry? It seemed just wrong to think that a simple sword design would have set her off that badly. Sure, it would trap him into perpetually buying dust, but that wasn't her fault. It was his idea in the first place, even.

 _Why?_

That question lingered, drawing her thoughts backwards. Had she been that frustrated by the Fang's activities in Vale? It was possible, she supposed, but that gave her an idea. They might not accept a White Fang member, but perhaps they would accept a White Fang traitor?

All she needed to do was a public stunt of sorts- maybe stop one of the robberies. She was certainly strong enough to take on a number of the grunts, and likely escape any lieutenants that might be sent along. Adam might be an issue, but he wouldn't come to Vale. He was too high profile.

 _So where should I go?_

There didn't seem to be any kind of pattern in their robberies. If there had been, she'd have noticed it yesterday. However, they had been at it for a month now. If someone intelligent was running the show, they'd do something new.

Blake blinked, whipping her scroll back out. The SDC sent large shipments to the docks. She didn't have a schedule, but she could watch for trouble from a nearby rooftop- monitor the whole place.

All she had to do was find a place to stakeout from.

 _Don't worry, guys. I'm coming home._

* * *

"Would you stop worrying so much," Weiss drawled as she dropped her bag off by their desk. "She's White Fang- I think she can handle herself."

Yang narrowed her eyes at her, the lilac orbs flashing crimson before, with a slight twitch, they returned to their normal hue. "That's exactly the problem! Our teammate is out there, likely getting herself into danger, and you're doing nothing!"

"It's not my fault that you two suck at lying."

Sighing profusely, Yang slumped down onto her bed. That particular conversation hadn't been their best...

 _Note to self: don't ask Jaune to trick somebody._

He'd said the right words, but completely lacked in subtlety or confidence. It didn't take a genius to guess he was lying.

"We wouldn't have to lie if you'd at least _try_ to help us find her," Yang pointed out, though her tone was deflated. It wasn't worth fighting over- they'd already lost one teammate here. No need to sever more ties.

With a slight huff, Weiss made her way over. Yang didn't bother looking at her, instead planting on arm over her face to block out the light of the room. "What?"

"Did it ever occur to you that she wants to be away from us?" The question killed the tension in the room, but she wasn't finished. "She left us, Yang. She could have stayed and explained herself, but she didn't. If she doesn't care about us, why should we fret about her?"

Yang's arm fell away, revealing her anger as red eyes met blue.

"Because I care."

Weiss made no move to comment, instead taking a deep breath. That seemed to take the fight out of her, which cut Yang's anger short as well.

"And I think she cares too..."

Even she could hear the lack of confidence in her own words. They... Didn't know.

She hadn't interacted with them a whole lot in the first place, preferring to stick to her own little world of books. That was fine, in a vacuum, but now? Did she truly feel nothing for them?

 _No. I can't think like that._

Yang stood up, one hand coming up to grip Ember Celica. The weapon spoke of the strength she desperately needed- the will to leave now in search of her partner.

 _I'm still gonna fight for you._

* * *

Roman continued to stride along, more than aware of the amateur that was sent to follow him.

He didn't care. These animals were looking after their own safety, and who was he to kill one of them for it? It's not like he was going anywhere truly unexpected for the moment. Just a quaint little cafe a block and a half away from the White Fang base.

It served the worst of them, himself included, with no extra.. incentive. So close to the docks themselves, it wouldn't do to get caught over a cup of coffee. It's just a shame that the White Fang didn't carry anything but instant- the mongrels. It would have been nice to relax for a few hours before the next big heist.

His eyes flicked up to a faint silhouette moving across the rooftops. Apparently Neo was getting sloppy in her stealth. He'd talk that over with her la-

A hand gripped the side of his coat, informing him of his partners presence. He turned down to her, noting the message held in her mismatched eyes.

 _Oh? I guess we're not the only ones making a move tonight._

A new party wasn't the end of the world. Odds are, if they weren't working for him or Her, Neo could take them out herself. The look in her eyes was a warning, but it held no fear. She was excited at the thought that maybe, just maybe, she might get to play.

"Come on, Neo," Roman directed with a smile. "Let's get you some ice cream first."

The adorable little midget threw a fist up in silent celebration. He'd say it was childish, but he liked all of his organs where they were.

Ducking down to sweep an arm into the back of her knees, Roman lifted her up to shoulder height. "The sacrifices I make for you."

* * *

"Look, Yang, we're not going to find her."

Jaunes words went unheeded as she continued to question people about seeing Blake. It was hopeless at this point. She was a terrorist- she wasn't going to be found that easily. If she could be, she'd have been killed a long time ago.

 _But,_ his mind interjected, _that doesn't mean we can't predict where she's going._

It was right, to an extent. There were areas she would almost definitely stay away from, like the Northern Market District the two of them had spent the last hour crawling through. However, plenty still remained.

She couldn't go on camera, and would likely avoid the authorities, but that only really cut out a third of the total districts- assuming she knew how to avoid the occasional traffic camera.

That felt like a safe assumption since even he knew how to do that.

Instead of predicting where she would go, they'd be better of predicting what she's trying to do.

"She's going to confront the White Fang..."

His words shocked himself, so Yang's confusion wasn't particularly surprising. She stared at him, her expression mostly blank as she no doubt waited for an explanation.

"The only two reasons I can see for her not returning are either loyalty to the White Fang or the belief that Weiss wouldn't accept her if she had it." He paused, the moment as much a break for Yang to process that as himself. "The only way she could actually prove that is to do something public and big- something she couldn't do as a ploy. The only thing I can think of is to stop some major stunt."

Jaune's stomach fell as he tried to dismiss his own argument. She wouldn't try and stop them all by herself, would she?

He sighed at his own lack of confidence. _Please, be safe._

"We don't need to find her- we need to find where she will be."

The sentiment was easy enough to understand, but that didn't make the task any easier. The White Fang had been active recently- that much was readily apparent. They could try waiting near dust stores or the like, but there was no reason to believe they'd even do something today.

It took him a second to realize how illogical that idea was. Just because the White Fang might not _actually_ do something, that doesn't mean Blake wouldn't be keeping watch anyway.

Actually, even with how little he knew about her, he was sure she would be doing just that.

"C'mon, Yang. There's a better way."

She smiled at the words. Jaune smiled too, gazing up into the sky for a moment.

This would work.

* * *

Vale security sucks. There wasn't a way around it- it truly did.

That was fortunate now, since it meant that Blake could easily ascend her chosen building, but it put a damper on her perspective of the city. Even here, at an industrial hub area, only a few CCT cameras stood to defend an entire collection of warehouses.

Perhaps that's what made it a prime target. It was fresh- virgin, if you will. Nobody had thought to attack it just as nobody thought to defend it themselves.

Besides her.

A sudden breeze whipped by, cool air splashing around her, but she'd come prepared. A dark grey cloak, perfect for blending in with concrete at night, slipped over her. She'd be here for a while, so it made sense to grab something to keep the chill at bay.

Activity was already taking place at the docks- a freighter being unloaded. It was unlikely that anyone would attack until the workers were gone, so she had a few hours. A few hours to spend alone at the top of a random industrial building.

She looked towards her bag forlornly. A book taunted her- the newest sequel to Ninja's of love, still unfinished, rested inside with her bookmark reminding her of just where she was: the moment before the climax.

And soon to be the other climax.

Blake shook her head, positioning herself by the edge of the roof. She needed to remain vigilant. Any moment of distraction would leave her vulnerable to-

She sighed into the blade at her neck.

"Of course..."

* * *

An explosion ripped through the sky- shooting upwards in a massive plume. The orange flames shone for miles, the deafening sound that accompanied the lightshow equally devastating in its effects.

Without a moments hesitation, Yang broke out into a sprint. This night had been long and full of frustration- the least she could do is take it out on someone who deserved it.

Concrete pathways and towering warehouses gave way to a wide clearing filled with shipping containers. The source of the explosion was readily apparent- a presumably Dust-filled box was obliterated, only smoldering metal speaking of its former existence at all.

It wasn't the only one, however. Two more were torn apart- those containing ice and lightning Dust. Someone was trying to break them open; trying to find the fire Dust.

Someone wanted to signal their presence.

The sound of gunfire nearby took her attention, but she paused a moment to look behind her. Jaune was coming, but couldn't hope to match her speed.

Another explosion- this one far smaller than the blast which called her over- sounded from a nearby rooftop. She couldn't wait for him.

Yang braced her legs for a moment, deploying her gauntlets as she did. A second later, she was off, shooting up with an accompanying burst of flame.

The roof she landed upon was empty, but that was to be expected. She turned towards where the sounds of fighting continued, eyes trying to make out the conflict in the dark of night. Two of the combatants made this fairly simple- Roman Torchwick and some similarly brightly outfitted girl. They seemed to be toying with someone, but the darkness and their black clothing made it hard to tell who.

However, it didn't take a genius to make an educated guess.

Yang surged forward, using the kickback from Ember Celica to boost her across the distance between the two buildings. Her landing was anything but silent, but it was meant to be.

Roman turned to her, flicking his cane around in one hand. He wasn't dressed in combat attire, but that hardly seemed to put a damper on his cheerful attitude. "Well, well; look what the cat dragged in."

 _Was that supposed to be a pun?_ Yang shook her head, ignoring it. Dissecting his joke could come after she'd pounded a few holes into him.

His partner continued to prey after Blake, but there wasn't much Yang could do about it. Roman was in charge, anyway. If he was down, she would leave.

Flames shot up around her, the accompanying change to her eyes doing little to intimidate the crimelord. Good- those who were scared played defensively. Yang lept forward, one arm cocked back as she lowered her form downward in a preemptive attempt to dodge.

That proved fortunate when Roman's cane skimmed the top of her head, but that left him unable to do anything about the fist embedding itself into his gut.

Yang twisted, a shotgun blast joining with the force to send him flying back.

Roman recovered quickly skidding to a stop without so much as a grunt of pain. He wasn't given time to do much else, however, as Yang was already in melee once more.

Ember Celica raged, screaming at him with each strike, but they never made contact. Roman played defense, deflecting each blow easily- only forced to take a step back to avoid the occasional followup.

He was laughing. That was the most infuriating part. As Yang threw blow after blow his way, but his confident smile never so much as wavered.

Yang snarled, throwing a kick out to his side. He ducked back, as she knew he would, but didn't stop there. Before she could retract the limb and attack again, he stepped up, driving an elbow into her sternum.

Her aura blocked the damage, as it should, but she'd been hit. Easily, too.

 _We need help,_ she realized as Blake appeared in the corner of her vision. Much like herself, she was having no luck against her opponent. The unnamed girl was easily slipping around any counterattack sent her way while dishing out small, almost inconsequential attacks. Even more so than Roman, she was playing.

Jaune couldn't climb the building, she realized. Until help arrived to investigate the explosion, which could be a few minutes, he was the only one here.

They had to take them to ground level. Perhaps they could even use the Dust down there as a weapon.

Yang dashed forward, but not in an attack towards Roman. She sprinted by, slightly surprised that he made no motion to stop her, but letting it pass as she made her way to Blake.

The girl in question dove to the side, narrowly dodging one of innumerable attacks from her opponent. "Blake!"

She turned, making brief eye contact before being forced to break it in order to flip away from an axe kick. She wasn't allowed to stop there, either, continually pressured back by the multicolored midget.

There wasn't time to defeat her- especially with Roman presumably in pursuit. Slowing down to check wasn't an option.

However, Yang had a plan.

* * *

Yang had a plan- Blake could see it in her eyes as she sprinted towards her.

The sense of dread she felt at the very idea was quickly replaced by the more intense fear her opponent brought. Neo, as Roman had called her earlier, was the epitome of her own style. She was agile, able to easily contort her body however she pleased while keeping pace.

She wasn't particularly strong, but neither was Blake, and that hardly mattered with the way she fought. Even though she was clearly going easy on her to draw out the fight, Neo was landing every attack she wanted to. Slowly but surely, her aura dwindled, and Blake hadn't so much as landed a single returning strike- even after Roman had split away.

Speaking of, the criminal in question was just idly standing by, watching the fight with an amused expression. Deflecting a palm strike on the sheathe of her weapon, Blake took other step back. It wasn't enough, however, as Neo twirled around and slammed her foot into her knee.

She'd have winced if she had the time. Surprisingly, though, it wasn't Neo that took that time away.

Yang had slammed right into her, carrying her along as she continued to charge forward.

"WHAT ARE YOU DOING?"

No answer came but an apologetic smile as her partner leapt off the building, carrying her along for the ride.

Never a boring day with her around.

* * *

Jaune tapped his foot impatiently as he continued to look up at the building Yang was fighting atop. He'd already shot a message to everyone he could think of- Weiss, their sister team, the police, and even Oobleck. It wasn't a very large list, but he didn't exactly have a lot of them on his contacts. He only had Oobleck on there because of the essay reminder feature he'd forced them to opt into.

Hopefully that would come in handy here, but it sucked that there was nothing he could do as he heard... Actually, it was eerily quiet right then. Was something wr-?

"WHAT ARE YOU DOING!?"

Blake's cry cut straight through his thoughts, bringing his attention to a black and yellow spec shooting off the building.

They were a distance away, but Jaune spared no time as he raced towards them. Whoever their opponent was, she was fast, darting after them as a pink and brown blur. The girl wasn't prepared, however, for Yang's weapon to go off, changing the direction of their fall.

"Coming!" Jaune shouted out to them as Yang and Blake slid and rolled to a stop respectively. They heard him, if their nods was any indication, but their assailant stopped them from regrouping with him.

 _No matter,_ he dismissed as he continued forward. He'd just have to come to them.

Blake slipped under a high kick, using the opportunity to throw half of her weapon out. The girl dodged out on the attack, clearly intending to retaliate, but was forced to flip backwards from a subsequent strike form Yang.

They were pushing her back, even if no damage was being dealt. Perhaps they could actually win.

"Come on, Neo! Break some legs!" Roman's cheer- the voice easily recognizable, even with the distance between them- came from above. He stood on the slight overhang of the warehouse they'd come from. If his cocky expression was anything to go by, he was having the time of his life watching _Neo_ fight.

And not at full strength apparently.

Jaune almost smiled at the comment, though. It was almost like Nora, in a way. The only difference was, Neo didn't take it as a joke.

Her eyes narrowed, silently judging those around her as she picked a target.

She chose him.

Bracing his shield against a foot originally meant for his neck, Jaune stumbled backwards. Despite her small stature, she hit more than hard enough to push him back. She didn't stop there- not by a long shot.

As gravity took hold of her, she planted a single arm on the ground, using the point of balance to swing around and sweep his legs.

If he hadn't already been stumbling, perhaps he could have kept his balance, but now?

Jaune crashed into the ground, almost unconsciously raising his shield to his face. That proved insufficient as she merely targeted a different vulnerable place.

* * *

Roman clapped along, watching as Neo ruined the young man's chance at parenthood. It wasn't the most fair way to take him out of the fight, granted, but nobody could argue with the results.

Given time, the same would happen to the rest. Neo may not be a genius thief, but in terms of combat ability, she exceeded him by a fair margin.

She'd be just fine against them. With reinforcements, however...

He sighed, spinning about to look out into the dark horizon. Flashing lights were visible, still over a mile away, but clearly coming towards them. The cops themselves weren't a threat, but it was unlikely that they wouldn't bring a huntsman or two along.

That brat had called them with an explosion- she knew what was in those crates. How to get rid of them, though?

Why, by the very same thing. If they were drawn to fiery plumes that reached into the heavens, he would give them one. Just not here.

Roman smirked, bringing Melodic Cudgel up to eye level. The scope flipped up, allowing him to take aim at a distant set of Dust containers. He focused on the dull brown- the ones meant for flame Dust.

With a high pitched screech, a single shot blazed towards its destination. And then, after an instant of hesitation, it burst.

The results, he must say, were fantastic.

Now, when anyone arrived, they'd be going for the exact opposite side of the complex. They might work their way over, given time, but they wouldn't be here long.

Much like an explosion, it was better to burn fast than long.

He turned back to the fight, if you could even call it that, and smiled. No dinner, but he was certainly getting a show. Perhaps he'd thank their corpses for the performance later.

* * *

Yang grunted as a certain infuriating midget kicked off of her face. How she hadn't broken all of her bones pulling the ridiculous stunts she was, Yang had no idea. Even now, she did a backwards midair somersault to propel herself over the blade of Gambol Shroud, an action instantly followed by a pair of blows to Blake's shoulders.

This was ridiculous. They were obviously stronger than her, but were never offered so much as a chance to hit her. The small blows were adding up- you could even see this in the way Blake's arms sagged and almost lost grip of her weapon in response to the most recent attack.

Jaune was out of commission, if his groans of pain were anything to go by, so no luck there either.

They needed someone fast- someone who could prevent quick movement somehow. But who...?

The universe saw fit to answer that question for her. A flash of white and silver struck from some distance away, zipping across the battlefield and forcing an equally swift blur of pink and brown to back away.

 _Weiss._

She wasn't even going to question why she'd come. As it stands, Yang merely let out a sigh of relief and took up a position to her left.

"You have no idea how glad I am you came here."

"I hope you have a plan of attack," Weiss stated, cutting off the reunion. Right, the battle.

"Oh, I have a plan." Yang lifted her fists up before her, entering a familiar stance. "Attack."

Weiss shook her head but made no move to argue. Instead, she flicked Myrtenaster in her hand, the rotary dust storage settling on the most used setting: ice. It was perfect, given the circumstance. Speed and agility were their opponents greatest qualities, and coating the area in ice would dampen that. However, thanks to glyphs, they could remain largely unaffected by the change.

Yang smirked, noting that Blake had taken position on the opposite side of Weiss. Now, they had a chance.

Blake moved first, throwing Gambol Shroud out in a wide arc to force their opponent to move upwards. The instant the girl was off the ground, Weiss thrust her rapier into the ground, ice spreading from the point of contact to cover the normally barren concrete.

That didn't matter much to Yang, however, who had already lept into the air to throw a few quick punches. As before, they were evaded with infuriating ease, but it kept her from pulling any insane maneuvers and escaping the trap below.

Yang crashed, unable to land properly atop the ice. However, the same was true of her combatant, who slid across. She kept her balance, though.

Perhaps this wouldn't be as easy as first thought.

* * *

"Ooh..." Roman hissed as Neo took the first blow of the fight. Not from either of the students, but rather a warehouse wall.

It was a bit more embarrassing, honestly.

The moment of vulnerability ended, however, when she finally whipped out her weapon. Good thing, too, since they only had another thirty seconds or so until more people arrived.

 _Perhaps I should help?_

He shook his head, leaping off a different side of the building instead. If push comes to shove, she could easily leave at any time. He, on the other hand, couldn't be anywhere he wanted at any given time.

The heist would have be postponed, but that was fine. A little rescheduling was possible. If he was caught now, however, a good half of Her plans would be ruined. There was no escaping from a pit of fire.

Assuming he even got a pit. Knowing Her, she'd just as likely take a more personal edge to the whole thing.

"Don't be too long, now!" he shouted back at Neo as he started to leave. "Wouldn't want to miss curfew, now would you?"

Like he could give her a curfew.

* * *

Jaune had... Recovered, for lack of a better word. He would likely feel the pain for a week more, but he was able to drag himself to his feet.

Only to find that ice had replaced the floor, preventing him from even hobbling in to help.

Great. Just great.

The girl that had taken him out seemed to be enjoying herself, but she wasn't cheering or anything. There didn't seem to be a need, either. The ecstasy she felt as she flipped around his team, narrowly dodging almost every attack while lashing out with a bladed parasol... He could see it, both in the way she grinned madly and the visible quaking he could see whenever she stood still for a moment.

Help was on the way- you could hear the sirens by this point- but that wouldn't matter. Even when she'd hit him, she'd been pulling punches, it seemed, as the blade visibly cut into Blake and Yang despite their intact auras.

Weiss was fairing a bit better, evening out the speed advantage. She wasn't as flexible, sure, but the elemental advantage and glyphs managed to make up for that.

Jaune grunted as he braced himself against a nearby wall. It was all he could do to watch, and that sucked. He could see the seriousness on their faces- besides the petite monster, obviously- and every bone in his body called him out to help.

But he couldn't. He knew that, despite everything, he would be able to land a single blow on their foe.

 _Maybe you don't have to._

No. He knew what his brain was suggesting, but it was stupid.

 _Is it, though?_

Yes. Yes, it most certainly was.

 _Are you going to do it anyway._

Yes. Yes, he most certainly was.

Taking a moment to prepare himself, Jaune dropped Crocea Mors to the ground. Then, without giving himself time to reconsider, he ran straight into the battlefield.

* * *

Jaune was an idiot. There was no other way to describe it. With no protection outside his meager armor, he sailed across the ice towards them.

He was a sitting duck- an ironic comment considering the speed with which he was moving. Hell, he even had his arms outstret-

 _Oh._ Blake mentally smacked herself for not realizing instantly. He was leaving himself as bait- really obvious bait too. The problem was the distance still left between them. If Neo went for him now...

She gnashed when her opponent broke away, rushing him. _For the love of-_

Blake didn't bother finishing the thought, instead leaping into action. She wasn't the only one, her teammates moving in hot pursuit right beside her. Unfortunately, without a head start, they weren't going to arrive first.

Neo lunged for him, blade held before her as she flew directly at his chest. No matter how much training he'd done, there was no way he'd be able to dodge.

He didn't try. Instead, in an act of accidental brilliance, he did nothing. Neo had aimed high, but that was to her detriment as the combination of his aura and armor deflected the blade.

She'd thought he would dodge or block somehow. Instead, he continued forward, arms closing in.

He didn't strike. He grabbed, pulling her into a... Hug, for lack of a better word. Neo may be fast and agile, but Jaune was physically stronger. As it was, she was pinned.

The rest of them took full advantage, dashing the remaining distance with their weapons ready for a combination attack.

It landed. More specifically, they all hit Jaune.

Neo was just... just gone.


	7. Cryotherapy

**This one took a lot longer to write than I'd have liked. I needed to get more than a general plan going since I'm not particularly good at winging dialogue, and this sets up so many encounters- you have no idea.**

 **Fortunately, I have personally been on both side of everything that happens beyond the wrap-up to the docks. Yay! Personal experience for the win! I always knew having a completely bizarre love life and tons of otherwise useless skills would come in handy one day.**

 **Side note: I am going to be writing the lyrics to a bunch of original songs (and a parody, in this case). If any of you want to make them into real songs, that would be spectacular. Only one is featured in this chapter, but I have two more already complete for a later chapter (the dance), and there will likely be a lot more.**

 **Welp... Here we go. Hope you like it.**

* * *

They had hit Jaune.

Realization that Neo had vanished came too late. Even Blake, with her faunus enhanced reflexes and extensive training, could do little more than angle Gambol Shroud so it was partially deflected off of his armor.

Yang probably didn't even notice until her fellow blond went sailing a good twenty feet into a concrete wall.

He would... Not be okay. That was the simplest way to put it. Aura was good, but it didn't handle internal shock very well. It was still better than nothing, but he'd have been dead if he had nothing.

 _He might be anyway,_ her brain hissed. Right- of course. He wasn't exactly in the best of condition. That girls nut-check combined with the few other strikes... Hopefully he had a large aura to work with.

Blake and Yang made their way over, leaving Weiss for the moment. Her shock wasn't going to help him.

He was looking around- which was good. He was cognizant and aware, even if- based on the dilation of his pupils- there was no way he could possibly recognize anything. A small bit of blood trailing off of the wall he impacted spoke of a likely head injury. They'd have to get him checked in for a concussion later.

Jaune seemed to scrabble for his chest, scratching at the armor. That had been where they'd hit him- perhaps they'd done damage to some organ? He couldn't be allowed to mess with it, at any rate, so Blake bent over to grip his hands. "You're fine," she attempted to reassure him, but it didn't seem like he heard.

Yang took hold of his shoulders, hauling him up to his feet. His legs were limp, which was bad, but he didn't make any pained noises. That was... Good, she decided. Even if he was injured, there wasn't a whole lot they would be able to do about it right now.

"I take it you saw the explosion," Blake began in an attempt to start conversation. The atmosphere was grim, and the least she could do was fix that.

Her partner merely rolled her eyes, but the beginnings of a smile crept onto her face. It died however, as she met Blake's gaze once more. "You shouldn't have been out here."

"I... I had to prove-"

"Nothing," Yang interrupted, raising one hand before her. "You had to prove nothing. We're a team. If we have a problem, we should solve it like one."

Blake nodded, turning to Jaune. This... Wasn't the way it was supposed to go. She was just supposed to take down a few grunts.

"Weiss?" she finally said, turning to the person in question. She wasn't furious, which was good, but how long would that last?

Her name seemed to snap her back to reality. Weiss strode forward, taking a moment to eye Jaune before turning to her. "Yes?"

"You... Don't have anything to say?"

"Oh, I have plenty of things to say." What reassurance. "However, I feel like caring for Jaune takes priority here."

Blake's eyes shifted to the left, bringing everyone's attention to the vehicles which were pulling up. Among them was an ambulance. "I think he'll be fine. Please, I just want this whole mess to be over. Whatever it is, tell me."

Taking a moment to collect her thoughts, Weiss took a deep breath. "You... Are an idiot."

The surprise on Blake's face must have been evident, but she didn't continue. "That's it?"

"What more do you want?" Weiss asked, continuing to stare at her with an almost bored expression.

"Well..." Blake froze. Was closure really worth getting into an argument over? _Yes._ The answer was obvious. If this wasn't resolved now, it would simply become a problem again in the future. "You don't care about my past?"

Weiss shrugged, gesturing towards her with one hand. "Are you still a member of the White Fang?" Blake raised an eyebrow at that, but shook her head no. "Why should I care, then? Look, Blake... This wasn't easy to come to terms with, but I don't want to be judged for what I'm not. You aren't your past- tonight has proved that. No one should ever judge you for what you aren't."

Blake lowered her head, stunned. That... She'd been trying to disregard her past for so long, but she'd always thought of it as something that defined who she became- who Blake was. Could she accept that she wasn't that anymore?

Maybe she could.

"By the way, Blake..." Yang began, the smile on her face already ruining Blake's mood. "You're in for all the cat puns when we get home."

 _And this is what I fought for..._

* * *

It felt like waking up, but somehow he knew he'd never been asleep. The only sensations were a dull throb at the back of his head and a slight whistling in his ears. The wind, perhaps. Experimentally, Jaune opened his eyes.

His vision was blurred, the world nothing more than an incomprehensible blob of black, gray, and a splash of white. Was there a sun in there, too?

With a sudden spike in pressure, a sharp pain in his chest replaced the mild ache, but he felt nothing as his hand explored the area in question. Despite that, his hands clawed at the source, trying to get rid of that which hurt.

His hands froze when one of the blobs grabbed his wrists, stopping him as gold lifted him to his feet.

To say he stood would be giving him too much credit. It would be more accurate to say he was held in a standing position.

It's not like he was going to complain. He still couldn't see anything. Perhaps he'd hit his head when he fell?

 _Why did I fall...?_

No answer came to mind, but that was fine. He could let it rest now. For some reason, he felt safe here- surrounded by splotches of color. He could see more now- flashes of blue or red growing brighter. Who was that? Was he going to be arrested?

 _The docks..._

Jaune blinked, looking around him as the world at least partially came into focus. Right... He'd been at the docks- helping... Someone. What was their name?

He didn't know.

Shaking his head, Jaune looked towards those around him. His sight hadn't fully returned, but he could at least make out the shape of people.

 _White... Black... Yellow..._

Right- his team. They... They had been here for him.

Why? Did he call them here? Did he get in a fight? That would explain the pain, at least. Who were they fighting, then?

An imaged flashed- that of a multicolored little girl smiling at him. Did he fight a child? Man, that would be embarrassing, especially since he apparently lost. At least his team wasn't berating him for it now.

 _Or are they?_ His eyes honed in on Weiss- his partner. She was... Saying something? What is it?

Her lips were moving, but no sound was coming out. Was she messing with him?

"Your past... Why..." The words were like an echo- faint, incomplete, and mistimed to the opening and closing of her mouth.

Were those his thoughts? They were in a different voice than normal, but that wasn't too strange. He could make different voices. Why should his mind be unable?

He shook his head again, the action causing him to wince in sudden agony.

Another image flashed in his mind. It was that girl again, but she wasn't standing with a grin. She was dashing towards him with a blade outstretched.

The world turned red.

* * *

Roman sat down on a nearby chair while Neo took up a post by its side. He didn't lean back in the plush piece of furniture, but rather leaned forward with his eyes pointed straight at the third person in the room. To a normal observer, he'd have seemed almost relaxed. Unfortunately, as She could no doubt tell, he was anything but.

"How delightful of you to drop by," Cinder greeted from her lounging couch. She seemed pleased with something, which was good for him. No doubt she was well aware of what had happened at the docks.

"Always a pleasure," he managed as he put on what he hoped was a smile.

She hummed in response, smirking at him. She was being coy- that much was obvious- but why was unknown. _As always._ For someone who was telling him what to do, she didn't explain very much. Perhaps it would actually help, despite how little he liked the arrangement.

"I hear you had a run in at the docks." Of course she knew. It had been on every news channel, after all, even if there was no footage of their presence specifically. "You mind explaining that whole debacle?"

Roman took a deep breath, something she no doubt saw, but he didn't care. "A certain cat saw fit to disrupt our plans once they began, so me and Neo dealt with it preemptively. She tore at some dust canisters, however, and created a... Signal fire."

Cinder's fingers combed through the air, a crimson light tracing the movement as she ignited the air. "And I suppose you can make up for the lost Dust?"

"Actually," Roman began, smiling for the first time in what felt like days, "we still got it. Since nobody knew why we were there, security wasn't increased and we simply came back later." It was a good thing that cat girl hadn't ratted on them. While it would have exposed her, the punishment he'd have received from Cinder would have been far worse.

"I see..." Cinder reached a hand over the side of her couch, pulling up a simple bottle of wine and two glass. "I suppose we should celebrate, then."

Green eyes watched her carefully as she poured a flute for each of them. Based on the scent, it was a harsh brew, likely 40 proof. Perfect for hiding a poison under overwhelming flavor.

 _Calm down. If she wanted you dead, you already would be._

Slowly, he reached forward to take the drink. "Are we done here?"

Cinder's eyes narrowed as she sipped from her glass, but she eventually lowered it in a silent concession. "Very well, Roman. You may go."

Roman let out a breath he hadn't realized he'd been holding as he made to leave. Neo walked beside him, face devoid of emotion. She'd gotten great at that, but he could still see the relief in the way her shoulders sagged slightly.

"One last thing."

If it wouldn't have a chance of sealing his fate, Roman would have sighed as he turned around. "Yes?"

She smiled. "Do keep an eye on our cat problem, wouldn't you?"

As if she needed to ask.

* * *

Harsh wakeup calls had become almost routine, so Jaune groaned as his mind recognized consciousness. What would it be this time? Perhaps they'd thrown the bed out the window again, and he'd simply slept through it. That would certainly explain the pain in his head and chest.

The choice words that should have followed never came, however, even as he continued to fein sleep. Did he wake up too early?

No... That wouldn't explain the presence on the edge of his bed. It felt like someone was leaning on it.

Was it worth seeing who it was? He wasn't going back to sleep- the throbbing in his skull promised as much. If he was going to be awake anyway, he might as well figure out who was in charge of throwing him out of bed.

Slowly, he cracked one eye. Even before his eyes adjusted to the light, however, he knew something was wrong. The walls and ceiling were a bright white. As was the figure beside him, who rested their head on the edge of the bed as she slept.

 _Weiss..._

He was in a recovery room- either from a hospital or Beacon's infirmary. Having never seen either, he couldn't begin to guess which.

It was a lot easier to guess why. He'd been in a fight- yesterday. He couldn't remember how it ended, exactly, but that spoke more than the memories would have.

He'd lost...

That hurt more than the injuries he'd sustained. It stung on a mental level, and he knew it would likely leave permanent effects.

The easiest one to recognize was a new drive. He would become strong- he would become someone who would defend those around him, rather than the other way around. He might be able to handle Grimm, but so could they. Now... He needed to learn to fight people.

But first, he had something a little more important to deal with.

He shook Weiss' shoulder lightly, causing her eyes to flit open. "Rise and shine, sleeping beauty."

She reacted about as he expected- she sprung to her feet, took a moment to take in her surroundings, and then frowned at him when the words finally clicked. _Like clockwork,_ he nodded, smiling despite her less than hospitable gaze.

"Where am I?" Her expression softened at his words, and she turned away for a moment.

"You're in Vale. After your fight, we didn't have time to take you back to Beacon, and there was no guarantee they were equipped to handle you either way."

Jaune's eyes widened. "Handle me? What was I doing!?"

The panic seemed to resonate well with her, but she didn't feel any in kind. Instead, her head fell. That was... Not a good sign. "You didn't seem to recognize the world around you. When we were about to take you in..." She paused, planting a hand atop his bandaged chest. "Well, you fought back- fought like you were still in danger."

He'd... He'd attacked those around him? No... Why would he...?

 _Revenge._

The answer was simple, really, and that made it all the more terrifying. He hadn't been able to recognize anything, so he lashed out at anything in hopes of getting that other girl.

"Did... Did I hurt you?"

He dreaded the answer. They were more powerful than him, but they would have gone out of their way not to injure him further as well...

She sighed- never a good sign- and met his gaze. "No, you didn't." Relief rushed over him, but her expression was anything but calm. "You never attacked me- but Blake and Yang..."

Oh no. No, no, no, no no no, no.

"They're alive, and Yang's already up and running around," she said in an attempt to reassure him.

It didn't help when she failed to bring up Blake's condition, even as he gave her time to.

"Ah..." He swallowed the knot in his throat, letting it pass. She was alive, and that's what mattered for now. He could make it up to her later. "What's going on with classes?"

A safe subject- something he definitely needed about now.

"Excluding a makeup test with Port, we're completely dismissed until you've recovered," Weiss explained, looking up. "Yang's using the time to catch up with some old friends from Signal and Blake's just been reading."

"And... you?" Jaune asked carefully.

"I've been..." She sighed, raising a hand to cover her eyes. "I've been here."

She didn't elaborate, but she didn't have to. The meaning was rather clear.

"Right..." What are you supposed to say to that? Damn his upbringing! Somehow this was all Sapphire's fault. "So... Got any plans for the dance?"

It was an awkward subject, but it gutted the tension in the air at least. Weiss actually laughed at him, and the genuine relief on her face made the inevitable disappointment well worth it.

"You should know, Jaune," she began while pointedly starting right at him, "I don't plan my dates more than a week in advance."

That... That wasn't a no. It wasn't a yes, but that's not important. Did he... Do something? He couldn't possibly have impressed her with skill or intellect by this point, and he wasn't particularly funny either- Yang made sure of that. If she couldn't make everyone laugh, nobody was allowed to.

"So... Talk to you in three days?" It was a carefully worded statement, but well worth it. If the small smile was anything to go by, the caution was unwarranted.

She sighed, standing up as she did. "I'm gonna go check on Blake. Do you need anything?"

Jaune took a moment to check for an answer, and it kind of surprised him too.

"Can you get me my guitar?"

Weiss looked unamused, but that was fine. Her sigh of acceptance gave him all the confirmation he needed, and he needed it for her as well.

He might not be good at talking, but he could always try singing.

* * *

Blake looked up from her book, but didn't bother moving it. She'd been visited quite often here- by Yang, of course- and it wasn't worth putting it away. That wasn't the case now, however, as Weiss slipped through the door instead.

"Just coming to check on you," she said, walking over to the side of the hospital bed.

 _About time,_ she sighed, but let it pass. What else was she supposed to expect? Jaune had gone through worse and was her partner.

That, and Blake really didn't want someone else digging into her reading time.

"Well, as you can see, I am alive." Weiss didn't react to the sarcasm, so Blake just mentally shrugged as her eyes fell back on the book. "If that's all, this book isn't going to finish itself."

Weiss nodded, but her eyes narrowed on the cover. "Ninja's of Love. You read those... things?"

 _Ugh..._

"Yes." Blake said simply as she lowered the book into her lap. "They're a collection of densely plotted drama stories, which makes it vastly better than anything going on around here."

"I'm sure it's _very_ descriptive," Weiss chided as she took a seat in a nearby chair. She didn't say anything else, which tempted Blake to go back to reading, but something about her expression seemed off.

"Is something wrong?"

"Hm?" Weiss stared at her quizzically. Blake merely quirked an eyebrow, the pressure of her gaze more than enough to get the job done. "Yes..."

She didn't continue.

"And...?"

"I'm not used to being on a team," she sighed, holding her face in one hand. "This was hardly an isolated event, and I'm afraid of what will happen if we have more run ins with Roman or Neo."

Blake sat up, firmly meeting her eyes. "Weiss, our team is going to be fine. If anything, we'll be better off, since I no longer need to hide my identity from any of you. That, and the defeat will likely make us train harder- Jaune especially." She received a nod in return.

Weiss rose, nodding her thanks as she made to leave. "Thank you, Blake." She paused at the door, a smirk visible as she half-turned her head. "Don't enjoy yourself too much."

 _Hey, she's better than Yang at least,_ Blake smarmed as she lifted her book back up in front of her. _This_ is what she fought for. "Thank you, Weiss," she said to no one in particular.

* * *

Guitar case in hand, Weiss pushed open the door to Jaune's hospital room. It was dark and he was asleep, but that was fine. He needed the rest.

The instrument intrigued her when he'd first set it down in the room, but he'd yet to play it- at least, that she'd seen. Now, it stood as a reminder of his past. He wasn't someone she knew the past of. That was... Actually rather different than she was used to.

Yang had always been open about her past, and Blake was now, while anyone she'd met in Atlas had to be vetted from the beginning. Even now, though, she couldn't say she knew much about him. About the only thing he'd brought up was being raised with seven sisters and having a familial blade.

Asking about that would have to come later, though, so Weiss merely set the container down by his bed.

When she stood up, Weiss noted a paper on a bedside table. Had he been writing something while she was gone?

Her eyes roamed the page for a moment, but it took mere seconds to recognize what it was. After all, she'd used lots of very similar texts back when she'd been in Atlas.

It was a song, or the lyrics to one at any rate. Weiss considered not reading it, but decided otherwise. Why else would he write a song if not to share it?

To Rise **(Parody of Ignite, by Zedd)**

[Verse 1]  
There's a fire within your eyes  
Upon which, your team relies  
For the problems which will arise

[Pre-Chorus]  
Charge straight in

Though you all will forever fight  
You will stand beside them and overwrite  
The fact that you aren't truly a knight

[Chorus]  
You are being watched by everyone  
You have to choose one  
Live or fight, live or fight  
Live or fight, (7x fight)

Lightning came down to sing a song  
The chance'll be gone before too long  
Take a stand, take a stand

[Verse 2]  
You can become one of your dreams  
A person who helps by all means  
Endures the harsh of all extremes

[Pre-Chorus]  
Bring it in

Though you all will forever fight  
You will stand beside them and overwrite  
The fact that you aren't truly a knight

[Chorus]  
You are being watched by everyone  
You have to choose one  
Live or fight, live or fight  
Live or fight, (7x fight)

Lightning came down to sing a song  
The chance'll be gone before too long  
Take the chance, take the chance

[Outro]  
...?

A smile took hold of Weiss' face at the end. He hadn't failed to write the outro, as a variety of attempts could be seen on along the sides of the paper. He just left it blank out of frustration. Perhaps she could... Help him out a bit.

Taking up the pen he'd discarded, she filled out a suggestion.

[Outro]  
It went from a drop to an whole ocean  
You can feel the wave of emotion  
Take the win, take the win

Good enough.

* * *

 **Oh thank Oum... I did it... I am so sorry for the lateness of this chapter. Trying to write this song was a nightmare. Originally, it wasn't going to be a parody, but then I struggled to build it without a framework.**

 **Anyway, I don't want to delay the output of this chapter any longer, so I'm gonna stop the authors note here. If you have any questions, comments, or suggestions, please leave a review. You can find replies to all of them at the bottom of Hoarfrost.**


	8. Flash Frozen

**So, I am skipping about 3 days in the timeline. I could go back, if people want, and make a chapter detailing what happened while Jaune recovered, but... It's basically the same, just without Ruby kicking ass. Yang alone could pretty much handle the combat encounter until Neo showed up, but Roman and Neo were better off leaving either way.**

 **The only other option would be to show what Jaune's been doing, but I plan on explaining that in the next chapter: The Arc-tic.**

 **Also do keep in mind the chapter names. They foreshadow a lot of what happens, and are excellent puns most of the time as well. Most of the people I've talked to haven't been looking into it, so... Do that.**

* * *

"Let me get this straight... While I was recovering in the hospital for several days, you had the coolest food fight ever, took down a terrorist meeting, and beat Roman Torchwick in combat."

"Yes."

Jaune inhaled sharply, the sound of relief to no one, including himself. "Just... Just why?"

Yang moved to speed, but Jaune held up a hand to stop her.

"I'm not questioning any of you, okay?" He took another deep breath, letting it out in a long sigh. "That was directed at the universe..." They all seemed to accept that, which was good, but he did feel like asking them the same thing. They'd literally sought out danger while one of them wasn't there and while they lacked any form of backup.

They'd all made it, obviously, so he was willing to let it go.

"Can we just have one day to relax?"

Weiss and Yang instantly turned to Blake, which was... interesting, but nobody voiced any complaints.

"Wonderful," he exclaimed, taking a moment to drop his guitar and weapons off by the bed. "Anyone up for a board game?"

That got a collective groan from each of them, which was answer enough. And here he'd thought Weiss at least would be into a mental challenge.

"If any of you need me," Blake said, suddenly breaking from the group to head towards the door, "I will be in the library."

And like that, she was gone.

Jaune glanced to the remaining two people in the room, and a look of irritation was on both of their faces. "Mind filling me in on what's going on?"

"Ever since the incident on Wednesday, she's been working endlessly on a quest to figure out what the White Fang is up to." Yang paused, taking the moment rub at her temples. "Today was literally the first day she'd so much as had a full length conversation with us, and that was only because you were coming back."

What great thing to come back to.

"I take it you have some sort of plan to deal with it?" It wouldn't exactly be a surprise. Hell, he'd be more surprised if they didn't have a twelve step plan complete with fully drawn up schematics of all of Beacon.

One of Yang's arm came to rub at the back of her neck. "I was thinking of staging a kind of... intervention." Oh, even better. A vague idea.

"Okay, okay, stop. Go hang out with your sister." Yang made to argue, but he held up a hand. "I will handle it. You haven't had much time to spend with her because of team arrangements- go." She seemed hesitant, but eventually nodded in acceptance. "You have any plans today, Weiss?"

A shrug.

"Awesome. You can help me out a little."

"But- she- why- ugh..." Is there a verb for that? Muttered, perhaps? Jaune didn't care.

"Alright, team Jabberwocky, let's galumph."

Not even Yang admired his pun.

"Man, none of you like poetry."

* * *

Researching the White Fang was as fruitless as ever, but that was hardly a reason to stop. They were active, and in league with Torchwick. That alone would have been terrifying enough, but Tukson had apparently been murdered as well. She didn't know him well personally- just a few offhanded remarks and a visit to his store- but she knew who she was.

They were culling the meek and gathering their forces. Something big was coming, and nobody was doing anything about it.

Not to say it would have been easy, though. Whether it was the influence of Torchwick or Adam, they were being incredibly meticulous and careful. They raided stores, leaving no bodies behind, and appearing at seemingly random intervals. For all she knew, they could literally be using a random number generator.

And her team wanted her to stop. Did they not understand the potential danger they were in? Even if the White Fang couldn't take down Beacon, with the dust they'd stolen, they could very well massacre a good portion of Vale.

Ironwood had arrived recently, which was good, but his personal security detail could hardly defend a whole city. The Atlesian Knights wouldn't be much help, either, since even a White Fang grunt could shoot them down.

Vale was a sitting duck, and _nothing was helping._

She yawned, masking the motion with one hand as she continued to stare down the various websites in a vain attempt to intimidate them into showing something. She couldn't be tired- she'd taken a quick nap eight hours ago.

Her eyes narrowed on one of the articles in particular. It mentioned some of the assailants talking about a warehouse, but provided absolutely no details about it. Why would anyone even bring it up if they had nothing to go on?

Blake's eyes roved across the screen, trying in vain to see a connection between the disparate events. They were gathering large amounts of dust and keeping it out of the normal warehouses. That either meant it was in another kingdom or somewhere outside.

Or, at least, that would have been true without Torchwick. Damn the man, but he certainly had access to the best the criminal world had to offer.

So... Back to square one. Again.

Rubbing the bags from her eyes, she closed a number of open tabs. She'd read them multiple times, and didn't need the... added distrac... tions...

Blake shook her head, bringing herself back to the land of the living. Work was to be...

Darkness.

* * *

"I still want to know how you got those."

Weiss crossed her arms in response.

"Hey- it's not like I'm the one with easy access to sleeping pills!" Jaune shouted back as he pulled Blake into the empty classroom. It was a rather abrupt way to solve the immediate problem, but nobody could really argue with the results. She'd slept through nearly ten full minutes of being carried through the halls.

Speaking of, there was a surprisingly lack of students. Only one person had actually passed them by, but that had been explained away rather easily. They were all on a team together, after all.

Placing her down in an empty chair, he took a quick breather. "We have to be here when she wakes up, so... We got a got a few hours."

Weiss sighed, but didn't argue against it. "Training?"

Jaune seemed to consider it, but he really didn't. All they could do in the room was general exercise, and he'd get more than enough of that in the following week. They always did say to do what you could when you can, but overtraining was a serious issue.

"No." He paused, taking a moment to think about it. So far, all he'd seen her do is study or train. They'd played a card game or watched movies, but that was always as a group. "What do you normally do for fun- by yourself, I mean?"

She pondered that for a moment before giving him a weak shrug.

"Great..." _I just had to like you..._

He blinked at the thought, but the surprise quickly faded. He had always been a flirtatious teenager- if you counted what he did as flirting, anyway. His attraction to Weiss was to be expected. That wasn't the issue... Now that he'd gotten a sort-of-yes, he had no idea how to move forward. She hadn't agreed to anything major, so he couldn't just act all adoring, or she would inevitably be put off. Doing things non-school related was important, to avoid the work getting in the way.

Hence the recruitment, but... Well, boredom was going to be a major issue.

"How about we just talk." That seemed reasonable, and her nod showed her agreement with that.

Now if only he had something to say.

"What's it like in Atlas?" Easy question, simple to answer, and it let her set the stage. Perfect opener.

"It's cold and rigid- as if every adult was Mrs. Goodwitch."

Or... Not.

"I take it that Vale is better?" Jaune said, attempting to lead the conversation in a more positive direction.

She leaned back on a table, looking up slightly as she made to answer. "Of course- my team's here. Even if the randomness is still... Frustrating at times, I much prefer it to the rigid structure I would expect in Atlas."

Jaune nodded, smiling as he did so. "I remember what it was like at my schools- absolute mayhem. Nobody was as powerful as they are here, so there was less property damage, but it was just as chaotic."

"I suppose it would be." Weiss glanced off to one side, eyes narrowing towards the window where Ironwoods escort ships could be seen in the distance. "The military, the SDC, and the schools are all closely tied together. They're one in all but name." The distaste in her voice made it clear she didn't approve. "I don't regret coming here in the slightest. Yang, Blake," she said, glancing towards the girl in question. "Hell, even you- you're all amazing. I can't even imagine what it would be like to have another team."

"I can."

Weiss whipped around to face him, surprise evident. He held his ground, however, and continued despite the unstated insult inherent in that.

"Whenever I have time to myself, I look at those around us and picture what it would be like to be on their team," he explained, taking a step forward. "I imagine myself with on team RPNR or CRDL or CFVY. Thing is... I don't see myself enjoying it nearly as much."

"And why is that?" Weiss inquired, voice sharp as she more or less demanded the answer.

"It's rather simple, really." He took another step forward, smiling at her. "You're not on them."

She smiled slightly at that, but didn't say anything for a long while. When she did, however, it was well worth the wait.

"I'll admit, your insanity has its charm."

* * *

Roman slumped down into his chair. Well, it wasn't _his_ chair. That glorious throne was sitting in a private warehouse in the basement of a nondescript apartment building. No, this was a simple recliner he'd managed to bring along to Mountain Glenn.

He was only here for a day- at least for now- but it was exhausting. The White Fang taught them how to make bombs- in the sense that they could make explosions- but he'd had to teach them how not to kill themselves in the process of manufacturing.

Sure, he could easily survive the explosion, but there was no telling whether the sound of smoke would give their location away.

That, and he might as well save the cannon fodder until the big day.

"Perry!" he shouted out to no one in particular. "Bring me a drink!"

A few seconds later, a glass of water was placed in his hands, and he raised it in a silent toast to their speed. If nothing else, the damn animals made effective servants.

No wonder that had been their purpose for generations.

"Neo?" he called, sitting up slightly as she appeared before him with a bored expression. "I still have some work to do, but I think now is when She wants you with the team."

She nodded slowly, a slight frown overtaking her features.

"Come now, don't be like that." Despite the words, Neo continued to pout, which only brought a sad smile to Roman's face. "You'll be fine. Hell, you can probably steal some ice cream while you're there."

That seemed to cheer her up, at least a little, and he waved her off as her petite form was instantly sent away.

Roman leaned back in the chair, taking an idle sip from his glass. This was going to be a long few weeks.

* * *

Nobody would call Blake a morning person. Nobody would even be willing to say she disliked mornings. The kind of hatred she had for waking up was strong enough to loop right around to being love.

She loved to hate the morning. As such, it was strange for her first waking sight to be a sunset.

Blake blinked a few times in an attempt to rid herself of the illusion, but it persisted. Perhaps she'd just been that exhausted. Well, it was no matter. Now that she'd slept, she could get back to work.

Conversation some distance away caught her attention, causing her to roll over on the... table...

Just seeing who was in the room was all the confirmation she needed on exactly what had happened. She hadn't fallen asleep. She'd been knocked out.

"You!"

* * *

Jaune lept out of his skin at the sudden outburst, left completely helpless as Blake trudged towards them. Weiss was better composed, but still froze up the instant they were shouted at.

Blake marched directly towards them, pointing an accusative figure at each in turn. "What is wrong with you? I'm trying to save Vale from the White Fang, and you drug me!?"

Admittedly, phrased like that, it did sound like a bad idea.

"That about sums it up, yes." His voice was surprisingly calm as he said that. Blake terrified him, at least now that she was fully awake, but his punishment wasn't going to change based on what he said.

The faunus took a deep breath, but her anger didn't dissipate in the slightest. Instead, she turned it on Weiss.

"And you!" She raised her outstretched finger directly to the heiress' face. "What do you have to say for yourself?"

Weiss shrugged.

 _This is not going to go well..._

Blake paused, taking a moment to rub her temples, but the effort was futile as her harsh gaze and creased brow attest. "I realize you think you're helping, but you're not. Either put in some actual effort with me in the library, or leave well enough alone."

With that, she stormed off. Or, rather, she would have if her hand hadn't been ensnared by another.

"Look, Blake," Jaune began, his tone serious, "We all want to catch the White Fang too, but exhausting yourself and trying to shoulder everything yourself isn't healthy."

She tore her hand away, her eyes drilling into his with newfound rage. "Then why don't _YOU_ do something!?"

"I can't!"

Blake took a step back at that, but her anger quickly resurfaced. "And why is that?" It came out like a hiss, which was fitting for words as terrifying as those. He'd managed to hide it until now... Somehow. To be honest, he thought it would have been an issue long ago.

It was time to face the music, as it were. He could lie- lead into something about teamwork and strategy- but there was no way it could actually convince her to stop. There was only one thing to do.

"Because I am hopelessly unprepared. I had around three weeks of training leading into Beacon, and all of it was self-study." The shock was evident on her features. He managed to stomach a much more horrified look from Weiss in order to continue. "However, as unprepared as I am, you are just as incapable of taking down an entire terrorist organization. Even our team- with RPNR too- would be outmatched."

Jaune let that sink in, sparing a glance towards Weiss. She had to learn eventually... He was just a coward- one who ran from home with a stolen sword who wanted to be a hero. He would- if for no other reason than to make the transgression worth it- but... That didn't change the past.

"Please- let the professionals handle it," he pleaded, returning his full attention to Blake. "I'm sure General Ironwood, the police, and likely Ozpin too, are all working hard to stop the threat before the festival."

Something in that seemed to resonate with Blake, as her confusion, surprise, and anger seemed to fade away. She nodded, slowly, and made to leave again.

He didn't stop her this time.

* * *

Of course... Of all the people to get paired with, it had to be him.

A weak fraud- someone who managed to deceive even Ozpin. It was... Laughable, really, but Weiss didn't have it in her to laugh. She should have seen it earlier. His aura- his lack of skill with his weapons- even his complete lack of discipline. Her faith in Ozpin's screening led her to believe he had to be good at _something,_ and that she could make up for any issues down the line.

And all this time, she'd been dealing with someone who was essentially a civilian. But worse than that, a civilian who lied.

Weiss' mind slowly examined her entire time at Beacon, noticing detail after detail which should have given him away. His poor reflexes, his strange attire, how he slept, even the way he walked. This wasn't just a trick to convince Blake.

A single tear formed in her eye as she recalled the events of today. She'd... Had fun, just bonding with him while a sunset shown through the windows. It had been romantic...

She shook her head, not bothering to hear Jaune's words as she sprinted out the door. There was no explaining his way out of this.

* * *

 **Man, I am sorry for the brevity of this chapter. It is a lot shorter than normal (about 800 words) and that... Well, that sucks. However, it needed to end like this. I originally considered adding another section to show Jaune's reaction to her leaving, but there was nothing to add of substance. All I could really do is spoil what he does next chapter, and I'd rather... I'd rather keep that to myself for the moment.**

 **So, yeah. Jaune throws himself to a panther and gets eaten by an arctic fox instead. This'll be fun.**

 **At any rate, I don't want to be a total dick, so I am doing an official Q+A! Yay! You can ask any question you'd like- about me, the story, or something completely unrelated- and I will probably answer. No limit to the number of questions, either, so go wild. Whether you message me directly or leave a review, you can find all the answers here!**

 **I only have one thing to note before I say goodbye, and that is how grateful I am for the community here. My other stories... They did poorly, if I'm being honest, but that's fine. The helpful criticism and questioning led to me creating better things, like this, or the planned remake for Fickle Things (I will end it first). There were some... Less than helpful people, but they were hardly the majority.**

 **So, in every language I know the phrase in: Thank you!**

 **Danke schön!**  
 **Gracias!**  
 **Je vous remercie!**  
 **Arigatōgozaimashita!**  
 **Gratias tibi!**  
 **Terima kasih!**

 **Is Jaune's family going to show up in the story?  
Yes, 100%. However, only his father will take a major role in later events. **

**Isn't all the conversation between Jaune and Weiss before Blake wakes up a bit... too short? A bit romantic, yes, but isn't that too short?  
So, apparently I didn't write this properly, so... My bad. I added the segment between their conversation and Blake waking up in an attempt to represent time passing. There was supposed to be a little over an hour in there minimum, hence the reference to the sunset, but... Yeah, I suppose that is my fault. I apologize, but I'm not that great at writing flirting, because I do it instinctively.  
**

 **Have you planned something for Winter this story?  
Absolutely. However, most of my plans aren't her interactions with the main crew, but rather how she and Qrow get along. On top of Jaune bonding with Qrow, thanks to actually being on one of his nieces teams this time, he's gonna be involved with her sister. Many hijinks ensue and many references to Brooklyn 99 are made.**

 **Is** ** **Draíochta based on anyone?  
** Etymology : Draíochta (Dray-ok-tah) is a term that describes a user of magic among the groups of mages, druids, and tricksters. Anam is similarly spiritual, representing the soul, the mind, and the emotions of love, passion, and courage, all of which are associated with red, hence it's own association with it. Additionally, Draíochta is associated with the number 66 while Anam is, quite literally, the number 6, resulting in 666, or the number of the Beast of Revelation.**

 **Are they going out?  
So, this might be a spoiler based on when you read it, but... Yeah, pretty much. It's in all but name, really, and that won't be true for very long either. I think I wrote it in for chapter 13? There's a lot of combat, and I didn't feel like bogging it down with relationship stuff.**


	9. The Arc-tic

**Here we are. The dance. Well, not quite yet, but I'd rather not put a authors note in the middle of the chapter. I was already berated for trying that once. Anyway, this is going to feature some music written by myself, and I want your opinions. This is obviously just the lyrics- I can't exactly put up sheet music on FF- but you can generally get an idea of what they're like.**

 **This is my first story ever which includes its own soundtrack, so... I figure it's worth asking about. Music will also be important in the later chapters, though there won't be as many so clustered- hence why I'm asking here.**

 **This chapter is going to be a lot longer than normal. None of you should mind, really, but I hope that explains any delays. I'm actually writing this when I'm only at about 1300 words, so... Yeah.**

 **Still looking for questions. Feel free to ask in a review of PM. The answers will be publicly available at the end of last chapter, if you want them to be. And again, they don't just have to be about the story.**

 **Also, I'm going back and finding a decent number of typos. If you find any, please message me about them. I'd rather have a properly written story than the illusion that I'm a god.**

 **Oh, by the way, I'm God. Nice to meet you.**

 **I will endeavor to add a copy of me singing Jaune's song to YouTube and posting a link here. I don't know when this will happen, or even if, but I have plenty of experience singing the song it was based on, so... It should work out well.**

 **Anyway, if you don't mind, I'm gonna go get some god damn sleep. Ciao.  
**

* * *

Jaune sighed into his pillow. This wasn't the pleasant or, alternatively, agonized sigh it was used to. Rather, it was one born from frustration.

Weiss wasn't talking to him. At all. It had been six days and she'd never so much as greeted him. His own attempts had been fruitless as well- pale blue eyes merely giving him a once over before she stormed off.

That was bad, but he didn't even know what he'd do if she did speak to him. Or, rather, he had no idea what to say. He'd try to convince her it was fine- to let it go- but... no. That was a terrible idea, even on the conceptual level. He was a fraud. He had lied to her, and many more people.

Blake and Yang took it considerably better. The consensus on their part seemed to be that he'd proven himself good enough to keep around. It was fortunate that nobody else had learned about it, however. Blake and Yang both agreed to keep it to themselves and Weiss had thus far said nothing.

But what was he supposed to do? The dance was tomorrow, and she would be there. She wouldn't be able to run away and create a scene. The thought itself, though, was manipulative, and he'd still have no idea what to even do!

Why was this so complicated!?

Jaune sighed into his pillow again, the warm air rushing back at him in an uncomfortable wave. He didn't bother to move, though, instead going limp on the bed. He needed a plan. Something... Something to actually do.

His eyes fell to the side of his bed where his guitar layed. A chord struck within him at the sight. It was a terrible plan- and he knew it- but that's what made it perfect.

* * *

The library was as empty as usual, but two unusual faces had graced it with their presence. Seated at a table near the far corner of the room, Yang and Weiss overlooked a set of plans for the dance.

Well, Yang was looking them over. Weiss had a rather blatant lack of enthusiasm as she rested her head in her hands.

"Look, Weiss, we could always let another team handle the finishing touches. All they'd need to find is a band and drinks."

Her words didn't even bring the heiress to respond, which had become the norm. She had been ignoring Jaune, which seemed understandable, but her lack of communication hardly stopped at just him.

Yang rose from her chair, leaning across the table with a soft expression. "Go- take the day off. I can handle it."

Weiss didn't exactly perk up, but her eyes at least swiveled to meet Yang's. "And you're saying you won't hire a rock band and fill the hall with liquor?"

An uncomfortable laugh probably wasn't the best response.

"You know what, fine," Weiss said, standing up. "I'm going to take a day off. So long as there aren't any explosions, I don't care."

With that, she walked away, leaving the plans up to her. Ignoring her every instinct, Yang let her go. The dance, at least right now, was a higher priority. Weiss would hardly prefer her actions causing a public event like this to fail.

Despite herself, a smile came over Yang as she pulled up the list of possible musicians. Fixing the team could stand to wait a few hours. "Hello DJs..."

* * *

Ozpin placed his mug down on his desk, allowing him to resume the tedious work of the schools paperwork. It was one of the many dredges of his position, and one he normally tried to delegate, but all of his staff were busy with preparations.

Well, most of them. Oobleck was gone completely, off on another venture into the Grimmlands. He should be back for the dance, but these forms needed to be dealt with now.

The chime of the elevator made Ozpin look up from a budget proposal. Who would be coming to his office now? Glynda, perhaps. Assigning missions to Beacon students did take more effort than most would think.

Metal doors parted, revealing a student behind it.

"Miss Schnee," he greeted, though his tone gave off more of a questioning vibe. "What are you doing here?"

Weiss gave no answer as she stepped into the room, allowing the elevator to close behind her.

"I have some questions," she stated, placing her hands behind her back. "I would like to know more about Jaune's past."

Ozpin nodded, sparing a glance out a nearby window. Jaune had let his secret out, apparently. That was hardly unexpected, though the reaction to it was. He'd have thought Blake would have sought answers well before her.

Answers from him, though... That was a bit more in character.

"What would you like to know?"

Weiss made her way into a chair opposite his desk, sitting down and taking a deep breath before answering. "How can I contact his family?"

 _Oh?_ Ozpin clasped his hands before him, laying them on the desk. It was a sign of hesitation, and one she would hopefully pick up on. Given her mental state, however well she was hiding it, there could be no guarantee. "If you would like to meet his family, why not speak with him about it?"

Her intentions were still unclear. As manipulative as many may take it to be, his job here was to see that each team run smoothly regardless of personal issues.

"I do not with to speak with him at this time," she said, being careful to word that diplomatically. That caution, however, was exactly the tipping off Ozpin needed at the moment. "Now, can you give me a contact number for one of his parents?"

Ozpin seemed to mull it over, but it was mostly an act. Even if he had the right to hand it out, which he technically didn't, there was little doubt as to why keeping it from her would benefit them in the long run.

Even if that wasn't her intention, calling either of his parents would simply get Jaune pulled from the academy. He had yet to prove himself, at least to Jack's satisfaction, so there is no way he'd let his son become a huntsman.

"I'm not going to do that."

Weiss' mask fell, the previously neutral expression replaced a much less forced but equally unsettling grimace.

"Is there anything else I can do for you, Miss Schnee?" It might be a tad late, but perhaps he could guide her in the right direction given a chance.

She sighed in response, which was to be expected, but she looked up at him a moment later. "Why did you let a civilian into the school?"

The accusation should have come as a surprise, but it really didn't. Before responding, Ozpin took a sip from his mug. The momentary delay allowing him to grasp at the most... diplomatic answer.

"I saw potential."

If looks could kill.

"That's a lie and you know it!" she shouted, slamming her palms onto his desk. "Hundreds of students from all over the globe apply here every year, and only so many make it in! There is no possible way that he is better than _everyone_ that got rejected!"

Ozpin didn't answer, allowing her to calm down slightly, but her eyes still demanded an answer.

Letting out a short huff, Ozpin rose from his chair and set his drink down. "I don't think you understand what I'm looking for in my students, Miss Schnee." He paused, letting the weight of the words sink in. "There are plenty of individuals who were stronger- who were faster, smarter, or more skilled with their weapons. Do you know what they weren't, though?"

She didn't have an answer.

"They weren't natural born leaders."

Weiss' left eye twitched slightly at that, indignation taking rise again. "Natural leaders!? Jaune!? He's done nothing productive since he got here!"

Ozpin hummed, glancing towards the school building once again. "I wonder if team CRDL would agree with that assessment."

"That's what this is about? His ability to save some people from a single Ursa?" Her expression spoke of disbelief, but that was fine. If anything, it made this next part easier.

"What do you think a hero is?" She made to argue against the question, but he cut her off. "Answer the question, Miss Schnee."

With a sigh, she spat a textbook answer at him. "Someone who is strong enough to protect people, and does so."

"Close," Ozpin said, smiling at her. "They don't need to be powerful. I'd say that the willingness to face those far stronger than you for the sake of others is far more heroic, is it not? I do believe that is what Jaune has done twice now."

"But he's still a-"

"Weakness can be ironed out, Miss Schnee," he interrupted, narrowing his eyes slightly. "A mindset is much harder to change."

She was still angry- he could see it in her eyes- but that was fine. What he'd said today should set her and Jaune on a path to reconciliation, so long as Jaune doesn't screw it up somehow. Unfortunately, there was no way to guarantee he didn't.

As Weiss went back down the elevator, Ozpin let a small frown come across his face. It would do to check in on him.

Another ding from the elevator chimed, taking his attention.

"Ah, Ironwood," he greeted as the doors opened. "Thank you for coming."

"You did say it was a matter of campus security."

* * *

"We have to attend the whole dance? I mean, what kinda shit is that?"

Emerald barely looked at him, her focus firmly taken by a book. She'd berated him for taking a comic book from Tukson's store, but she'd walked out with three whole novels put... Somewhere. Even with his many talents, he still had no idea where Emerald was keeping half of the things she carried with her.

Her outfit had like four pockets, all of them nearly skin tight. His pockets were mostly filled with his pair of scrolls, and he didn't steal half of everything he saw.

"Orders are orders," Emerald repeatedly dryly. Her lack of enthusiasm was apparent, but she seemed to have a much regard for Cinder's instructions.

Him, though? Trusting Cinder implicitly sounds like the worst of ideas. She was powerful, and knew what she was doing, but he'd yet to encounter someone who wasn't disposable to her.

Even Roman was merely a pawn- someone she manipulated with ease despite his own influence across all of Vale.

 _Only for her,_ he sighed, stepping out of the dorm. The dance was going to be a nuisance- he could already tell. It was advertised like a ballroom dance, and actually took place inside of one. Can't really break dance to slow music.

Perhaps he would give Yang or Weiss a visit. They were in charge of the dance, right?

He stopped, pondering the thought as he stared at the door to their room. Eventually, though, he decided against it. It wasn't his job to get close to anyone, and he had no intentions of doing so. The night would be all boring, either. If nothing else, he could tease Emerald all night.

Mercury smiled, making his way from the door. Soon... Soon the fun would begin.

* * *

The dance wasn't something Weiss could skip, no matter how much she wanted to. Even beyond being part of the reception, it was an important event for meeting foreign students. She would allow Jaune to ruin this chance.

It was fortunate, at least, that he hadn't shown up. Both she and Yang had taken up positions as greeters, so she'd at least know of his presence.

And avoid him at all costs.

Weiss spared a moment to look up at the clock. An hour had passed since the event started, and Yang would be leaving her post as a greeter soon. Good. The girls of the team could have fun together. Blake didn't come with anyone, obviously, and Yang had provided her own excuses earlier than evening.

Good. Nothing to detract from some good old fashioned team bonding.

She paused, holding up one finger as a silent queue to wait. She'd just tempted fate.

The slow music the DJs had put on cut out suddenly, the device apparently being unplugged.

 _Oh Oum..._

* * *

Jaune's nerves were going haywire. Never once had he played for anyone but his father, and now he'd thought to do it in front of his whole school. Hopefully hysterical strength applied to guitar skills.

The ballroom opened up around him, the high ceiling, surrounding balcony, and mixed lighting giving the air of a massive space. That was directly contrasted by the state of the floor, which was absolutely filled with people. It was a struggle to move, especially with the black case clasped in one arm.

He made do, making sure to mask his presence by remaining near the wall and not bothering anyone. The last thing he needed was for someone to confront him before he'd started. Most people would never understand, but the killing intent of an Ursa bore nothing on the pressure a group of people could give off.

Humans evolved as social animals, and that was never more apparent than when you were about to...

Jaune shoved the thoughts aside as he approached the stage. This was not the time for doubts. This was the time for action.

Atop the stage, a pair of DJs worked a soundboard to keep music flowing. It was mostly slow music, but they had worked in a pop song or two earlier. Even though he was back in the dorm at the time, the student body was more than loud enough to hear from there.

Pausing by the power strips, he took a moment to breathe. His blood was pumping in anticipation and fear. Fight or flight was strong, but he couldn't do either.

Instead, he reached one arm forward, and unplugged the soundboard.

The reaction was immediate- the entire crowd collectively going still and silent as they turned towards the stage.

Jaune hesitated, one arm placed on the edge of the stage. With a final breath, he hoisted himself up.

"Hello Beacon!" he shouted, silently thanking Oum that his voice didn't crack. "I would like to play a song for all of you tonight."

Reactions were mixed. While a select few booed him for taking away the earlier music, most were indifferent, and a surprisingly high number of people were curious what he was doing. Unfortunately, as her narrowed eyes conveyed, Weiss was not among them.

She wasn't leaving, however, so Jaune pulled out his guitar without another word. He strummed a single chord, which echoed throughout the ballroom. It reverberated easily, aligning his will with the guitar. He smiled, watching as the world faded away to leave only him, this instrument, and a certain white haired princess.

And then he began.

Hey There Snow Angel (By Jaune Arc - Parody of Hey There Cthulhu, a Hey There Delilah parody - It's complicated)

Hey there Snow Angel, up there in your frozen castle.  
You're a billion light years distant and the stars look very pretty  
I turned grey  
So close and yet so far away  
I give, okay?

I love you Snow Angel, or did I just lose my mind?  
I was quite the lost pretender, when I was trapped within your bind  
What should I do?  
I'm forever debted to you  
It's nothing new

Oh, it's what you do to me  
Oh, and to my sanity  
Oh, I'll bend down on one knee  
Oh, warm you up slowly  
So you can forgive me

Hey there Snow Angel, I'll be making this up to you  
The slow apology, it lets me see the pathway right through  
To where I see  
Our ultimate destiny  
It fills me with glee

So when the stars are right, you'll come and do your worst  
But that's okay because I know you'll punish morons like me first  
When you get here  
I know that day is drawing near  
I have no fear

Oh, it's what you do to me  
Oh, and to my sanity  
Oh, I'll bend down on one knee  
Oh, warm you up slowly

A billion light years seems so far  
I cannot see beyond the stars  
Of these feelings that I hold, you'll have your fill  
Those watching will make fun of me  
But I'll just laugh when I agree  
'Cause no one's ever loved you like I will  
Snow Angel, I can promise you  
That by the time this song gets through  
My world will never ever be the same  
Please say my name!

Ich kann nicht leben, ohne dass du bei mir stehst (I cannot live without you standing with/beside me)  
Boy, that's really quite a mouthful, but I will always do my best  
Everyday  
My heart is out- it's on display  
I feel my mind begin to fray  
Still I await that joyous day  
I won't go away!

Oh, it's what you do to me  
Oh, and to my sanity  
Oh, I'll bend down on one knee  
Oh, warm you up slowly  
Please forgive me

Weiss hadn't moved for the entire duration of the song, but her expression had changed drastically over time. From the beginning, she scowled at him. As early as the first verse, it was replaced with an annoyed grimace.

From there, however, it had varied wildly, flippantly changing from looks of realization to harsh glares.

Finally, however, she settled on neutrally watching him finish.

Wordlessly, Weiss stepped up on stage, eventually standing directly across from him.

And then she grabbed him by the earlobe and dragged him away, leaving the room entirely with him whimpering pathetically in her grip.

* * *

Mercury's eye twitched slightly as he saw that asshole with a guitar just leave the room after what he'd done. The atmosphere in here already sucked enough, and he'd absolutely ruined it with his song. He couldn't punish him, but Mercury smirked almost-cruelly as he pulled out his scroll and made his way forward.

The room could do with a hard reset.

Mercury stepped up onto the stage, noting that the music board had been plugged in again. Without hesitation, he placed his scroll into one of the ports and pressed play.

Instantly, heavy metal beats poured from the speakers, filling the room as the intro to his favorite song began to play.

And then, matching the bass drop, he began to sing.

To Hunt (By Draco Murdock)

The darkness marches towards us  
So get within that school bus  
We learn to destroy that which came before  
Soon they will be nothing more

Fear none, kill all  
The code of a Viking  
Fight hard, move fast  
Like a bolt of lightning

Just cut to the chase- no mistakes  
We get one chance- no retakes  
Changed your mind? No snowflakes  
Fight to the death- no restraints

The war is here, no one can deny  
So make sure that our enemies die  
We hunt so that the others know  
They have my sword and your bow

I served my country- paid it in blood.  
It flowed through the land, turning dirt into mud  
You serve us now- with something to lose  
The battle calls out, so now you must choose

The path is filled with bodies  
All were left to rot  
Are we gonna let that stop us?  
I would guess not

The war is here, and we fight for all  
The warpath is our only true windfall  
We hunt to kill the beasts within  
We're animals in human skin

What separates predator and prey?  
The hunted is that which runs away  
If the prey bears no shred of fear  
The predator will not remain near  
When they turn, they show their back  
That moment is when we shall attack  
We shall hunt- we shall prey  
Who knows, we may win one day

* * *

Jaune winced as he was almost thrown forward. Though he stumbled several steps, he managed to catch himself on a railing.

The two of them were outside, on a balcony of sorts which overlooked the Emerald Forest. A thin breeze rushed past him, causing him to shiver slightly underneath his suit, but he managed to ignore it as he turned to her.

Moment of truth.

"You're an idiot."

Normally, he'd have taken offense, but the way she laughed that out brought a smile to his face.

"Glad to see you approve," Jaune said with a theatrical bow, before rising to stand before her. "What'd you think?"

Weiss paused at that, using the moment to collect herself. It was a relief to see her so lighthearted about it.

"The song? It was... Mostly good, actually. I have an issue with the 'warm you up slowly' part, though." That last pit was said while she glared straight at him. "I would berate you for doing that in public, but that was part of your plan, wasn't it?"

He nodded. "You're gonna get me back for that later."

"Yep."

Jaune smiled, tapping the tune out on his leg as he leaned back on the baluster. He'd gone out on twelve thousand limbs, but it had been worth it just to be here now. "Hey, Snow Angel?" Weiss perked up at the words, giving a silent response. "May I have this dance?"

She threw an arm back into the ballroom where the sounds of people rocking out to some heavy metal music easily reached out here. _Of course this happens once I leave._ He let that annoyance subside, however, as he instead took another strode up to her.

"Are we gonna let that stop us?" Jaune growled out, matching the lyrics of the song inside.

Since she took his hand, he would guess not.

"This doesn't mean you're off the hook," she warned, planting her remaining hand on his shoulder.

"Of course." And that was fine.

For now, he had a dance to enjoy.

* * *

Cinder looked back into the ballroom, sounds of rock and metal music still quaking forth. Even from the rooftop of another building, she could easily feel the sound. How anyone could enjoy it was beyond her.

What mattered, however, was that they were. The atmosphere was electric- the entire crowd rallied into a unanimous frenzy.

Reassured that she wouldn't be spotted, Cinder dashed across the tiled roof. Her target was close, but it wouldn't do to approach from the ground. No alert could be signaled- she could fight off anyone here, but Atlas wouldn't stand by if their facility was publicly known to be attacked.

Meanwhile, if it was kept private, they'd be more careful- the discrete action only more suspicious by the public.

Gracefully, she lept off the edge of the roof and sailed into the air. As gravity took hold, she aimed carefully.

There were two soldiers at the front door. As she landed, however, one of them had been uncomfortably merged with the concrete floor.

The second was just as unprepared- barely drawing his weapon on her before a kick the temple sent him careening into the nearby bushes.

Cinder smiled, taking a keycard from the nearest body and heading inside.

Atlas went a little overboard on interior security, but that hardly mattered. Not for her, anyway. The eight guards were just as incompetent as those inside, allowing her to easily knock them out in sequence. None of them had even attempted to raise an alarm, which spoke of terrible discipline on Ironwood's part.

If they were her men, they'd have been burned alive by now.

Doing a quick check behind her to confirm that she hadn't been followed, Cinder approached the elevator. It was already coming down, which was convenient. Less time spent waiting.

The doors slid open, revealing two more guards inside. A simple elbow to ones head and a nutcheck for the other and she was golden.

Getting access to a terminal was just as easy. With nobody in the room to stop her, it was just a matter of finding the one computer a Mr. Gregory Canus and plugging her scroll in. _I'm half a mind to get Ironwood to up the challenge around here._

She wouldn't however. As boring as flawless success was, that wasn't any reason to risk defeat.

Moments later, each screen shone with the familiar queen piece. And then, with not a second to lose, she was gone.

* * *

"Pray tell, where did you learn to dance?"

Jaune chuckled lightly to himself as he gazed upward. "You pick up some things when you grow up with seven sisters."

Even without directly looking at her, he could see the shock on her face, and it made him smile. Seven wasn't that many, right? She recovered easily enough, and actually smirked as she met his gaze once more. "So that's why you can't speak to women.

Jaune winced loudly, drawing the sound out as long as possible for dramatic effect. "Oh, how you wound me so!" he exclaimed, planting a hand on his chest as he leaned back onto the railing. "Cutting words dig deep into tender flesh."

Her laugh was invigorating, and left him feeling exhilarated. Against all odds, tonight had been a great night. Jaune met her gaze, planting an arm on each shoulder.

"Thank you, Weiss."

She hummed her agreement. Perhaps she'd have said more if her lips weren't already occupied.

* * *

 **So, I originally had another song written for this, but... I couldn't find a way to organically fit it in. For those of you who are curious, I'll still post it, but it won't be in this chapter. If it isn't used for something, I will 100% use it if this ever becomes an audiobook.**

 **That's getting ahead of myself a fair bit, however, so... Yeah. Thank you all for reading, and have a nice night.**


	10. No Rime Or Reason

**I realize there is another authors note, but this one was written later. Deal with it.**

 **Anyway, I'm... busy. Very much so, unfortunately. Not only has school kicked in, but I FINALLY landed a job. More than 100 applications, a grand total of two interviews, both ending in failure, and I finally get a job with someone because I was nice to unaffiliated people at a store. Gotta love America, right?**

 **Draco Murdock, your Overlord and Master, is now the proud marketer of Evacity's new Elevate Coffee and Chocolate products. I do honestly recommend them, by the way. Normally I hate coffee, but I could actually drink this, and they are natural anti-depressants and anti-anxiety... Somethings. I don't know what the proper term is for it, since I am a Physics and Writing student.**

 **Please, check it out. If you live in the Everett Washington area, I totally recommend you go to The Healthy Bean cafe in Marysville on 13th and State and order some. You can also get the product to make it yourself, which is nice. If you do, please mention that Cai (like high but with a k sound) sent you there. They'll know what you mean.**

 **Blargh- transition stuff. I will be making these chapters on a less concise schedule as a result... I hope you understand. In the meantime, if you're going to skip the next note, have fun with No Rime Or Reason. It took a while to actually plot the mission out, so... Here's hoping you enjoy.**

* * *

 **Hoo boy- the tight schedule of RWBY comes to kick my teeth in. Originally, I'd planned to have a chapter in here of the team bonding before the mission. That's... No longer possible.**

 **Nonetheless, I will press on with the story. Here we have the mission finally kicking in, and it has NOTHING to do with Mountain Glenn. Yay! I don't actually enjoy the easy task of repeating things, so I try to occupy as little of my chapters as possible with it.  
**

 **So, on that note, I had to copy Ozpin's entire speech later on. Have fun with that.**

 **Lastly, as a forewarning, I planned these next few chapters while listening to Andrew W.K. Make of that what you will.**

* * *

"It's here!?" Jaune shouted as the mail for the room was delivered. There were two packages- one for Yang and one for him.

Considering no one in his family knew where he was, there was only one reason he would be getting a delivery.

His new sword and shield.

The cardboard thrashed in pain as it was torn apart carelessly- discarded in the pursuit of that which lay inside. Sure enough, cold steel glimmered back at him as the ancestral blade sang its song of old.

With speed rivaling that of Nora or Ruby, Jaune threw himself into a hug with Weiss.

To her credit, she remained standing, but that didn't stop her from stumbling back several steps from the sudden embrace. Before her brain could even process what just happened, Jaune was gone.

Back on the other side of the room, Jaune strapped Crocea Mors to his hip. It was just in time, too, as an alarm called everyone to an assembly.

It was mission time.

* * *

"Today we stand together- united." Mistral, Atlas, Vacuo, Vale- the four kingdoms of Remnant. On this day, nearly eighty years ago, the largest war in recorded history came to an end. It was a war of ignorance, of greed, and of oppression. A war that was about much more than where borders fell or who traded with whom, but about the very idea of individualism itself. We fought for countless reasons, one of which being the destruction of all forms of arm and self expression, and as you are all aware, that was something many could not stand for. As a result, those who opposed this tyranny began naming their children after one of the core aspects of art itself- color. It was their way to demonstrate that not only would they refuse to tolerate this oppression, but neither would the generation to come. And it was a trend that is held to this very day. We encourage individuality, expressionism, and unity through diversity. As I have said, today we stand together, united, but this bond cannot exist without effort, which is why today, while the rest of the world celebrates peace, huntsman and huntresses will work to uphold it. As first year students, you will be be tasked with shadowing a professional huntsman or huntress on a mission. Some of you may be taken out of the kingdom for several days- others may work within the walls for the rest of the week. But no matter which path you choose, remember to be safe, remember your training, and remember to do your very best."

God that was a long speech. How the man memorized it, Jaune had no idea. Nonetheless, it was finally over.

With the dance over, it was time for everyone to go on their first missions. large screens were setup around the room, each detailing a set of three missions, and students were already milling about and claiming theirs.

"What are we looking for?" Jaune asked, scanning the room. The boards themselves, despite their size, were largely barren. Very little was described out any given mission, and the quadrant listings were unhelpful for someone who hadn't spend the last four years memorizing every single aspect of the job.

Most of the missions were Search and Destroy, which was self explanatory enough. You just find the Grimm and get rid of it. Hell, one of the missions specified that there was just one Grimm- albeit a strong one.

"Big Grimm," Yang said, cementing her approval. The rest of the team gave a nod, and it was a simple matter of typing their team name in to accept.

Within seconds, a message came forward on their scrolls detailing where to meet of up the huntsman. Unfortunately, that time was a few minutes from now, so they barely had time to pack.

Rather, he only had a few minutes to pack. Weiss, Yang, and Blake each had bags already on their backs.

Of course- cause why not, right?

* * *

By the time Jaune arrived at the landing zone, the bullhead was already coming in for a landing. As it touched down, the door on its side flung open to reveal a single passenger.

The man was dressed in a chain vest set under a black t-shirt and matching black cargo pants. Over the top, he had a deep red trenchcoat which contrasted well with his black garb and pale skin.

None of that caught anyone's eyes, however. Instead, their focus was on his head. More specifically, the spiral ram horns jutting out of them with dust runes carved into them. Cropped black hair masked where they joined with his skull, but the rest was on full display as his ebony eyes passed over them. He seemed satisfied, as he nodded at them while donning a confident smirk.

"Afternoon, students- I am Draíochta Anam, but you may call me Anima," the enigmatic man spoke with a slight bow. Despite his odd dress sense, Jaune liked him already. His name was a bit odd, being pronounced Dray-okh-ta, but they wouldn't have to deal with that.

"Hello!" Jaune shouted, his teammates providing their own greetings. A moment passed in relative silence- only the ambient noise of the bullhead engines breaking through- but they eventually realized what they were supposed to be doing.

Within moments, they boarded the bullhead, and they were off.

Jaune smirked as a bit of nausea caught him. Foolish air sickness- you couldn't make him vomit if there was nothing to vomit! Haha! At last, his nemesis had been defeated!

He choked down the bile that decided to correct him on that, but that was still a victory.

As the rest of them settled into their seats, Anima clapped once to grab their attention. "If memory serves, Ozpin and them told you nothing about your mission." His ebony eyes scanned the group, gauging their reactions. "And, judging by your expressions, I'd say that's correct."

The man sighed, leaning back in the chair as he let his head brace against the steel wall of the bullhead.

"The town of Lenshin has been regularly attacked by a single powerful Grimm. It managed to snag a few civilians, but the townsfolk quickly wisened up. Over the last month, they have hired four huntsman- all solo operatives who were dealt with by the Grimm in question."

Wow, that was dark. Professional huntsman, all slain by one Grimm? And, more importantly, if the Grimm was this powerful, why was this a student mission in the first place?

Someone in the chain of command would receive some choice words if they made it through this.

"It strikes at night and keeps its appearance completely hidden. All anybody knows is its howl, which doesn't match up with anything on record."

Oh, great. A unique Grimm on top of everything else. Did he do something horrible in a previous life? Was being dorky a high crime in multiversal court? What? There was no way all of this shit would happen to him without good reason.

No divine revelation came, so he merely grit his teeth and continued listening.

"We will have about a week to kill it. We will probably need less time, given that it should strike in the next day or two, but who knows. Intelligent Grimm are known for breaking convention."

Oh, right. It was actually pretty easy to forget that Grimm grew more intelligent as they aged. It wasn't just that they gained experience and learned to do things like avoid fights. It was difficult to measure, but Goliath's were recorded as being at least human level, but lacking in formal education.

One of the few things Port actually managed to teach him.

Regardless, that was bad news for them. Huntsmen dressed to be noticed- it was a way to passively protect those around you. If you stood out, the Grimm would attack you. Or, at least, that was true for the less intelligent variants.

Since it could recognize them, it would likely avoid them unless given an irresistible opportunity to strike.

"Is that all?" Jaune asked, seeing as Anima had been silent for a few seconds.

He nodded, looking off to the side as if he could see into the distance through the steel walls. "The request was put in by someone outside of the case itself. We'll need to talk with the mayor or a mortician to get more details."

Huh. For once, some good news. Investigation practice and additional, potentially valuable information- two things he could do with a lot more of.

That last part still niggled at him for some reason, though, like there was something missing. Nothing came to mind, however, so he let it pass. Stressing about unknowns wouldn't help anyone, let alone himself.

Briefing over, Jaune reached an arm out to his right, wrapping it around Weiss' shoulders. She didn't comment, even as he rested the side of his head on hers, so they stayed that way for the rest of the ride over.

* * *

A brief alarm sound signaled that they were approaching the town.

 _Good,_ Yang thought with a nod. Even in a bullhead, which was the fastest mass market airship, it had taken nearly an hour to get there. The briefing lasted maybe two minutes, and there was almost no other conversation the whole way there.

Fighting things- that's the fun part. Sure, it might take them a day or two to find it, but they wouldn't be waiting around the whole time.

Yang didn't even bother waiting for the bullhead to land before leaping out the side door. They had landed on a cliff- the town visible from here. A variety of buildings lay inside a circular wall, acting to separate the town from the miles of forestry.

Looks like they'd have a pleasant trek through Grimm infested woods. Who knows, maybe she could have some fun before they arrived?

Footsteps sounded from behind her moments before the engines of the bullhead roared once again. Within seconds, the noise faded into the distance, leaving their team to brace again nature.

Fists slammed against fist as Yang smiled into the wilderness. Without hesitation, she broke out into a sprint, casually leaping off the cliff and into the unknown.

* * *

"So... We're going after her, right?"

Weiss shrugged at him, unconcerned. "Odds are, if anything tries to stop her, it would regret that life decision for a few final seconds. I, meanwhile, don't want to know what happens if I beat her in a race."

Anima stepped up to the edge of the cliff, watching a series of trees falling aside in a path towards town. "I think it'd be fun."

He turned back to them, giving them a confident smile.

"See you there." With that, he took a single step back, casually descending the several hundred feet to the ground.

Curious, Jaune crept up to the fringe himself. He gazed downward, to the still falling huntsman. He spared a glance up before whipping around, placing his feet against the edge of the cliff.

As he rapidly approached the ground, his feet glowed with the signature show of aura. In a show of strength, he lept off the newly shattered wall and sailed into the forest- no longer visible except for the white shine leaking through the treetops.

"I guess we follow them?" he suggested, turning back to Blake and Weiss. Unlike initiation, they weren't being launched from pads this time, so getting down was actually fairly easy.

As she walked, glyphs conjured under Weiss' feet, creating a staircase for them all to walk upon. It wasn't exactly the most noble use of her semblance, but who was he to argue? It was certainly more convenient, for him at least, than leaping off the cliff to his... Well, with aura, he'd probably make the whole fall without breaking anything, but landing would still hurt pretty badly.

Regardless, that wasn't a worry now, since he had his wonderful partner with him. He smiled at her as they continued to walk. Her white hair shone with the light of the sun, as did her eyes which now met his own.

She punched him in the shoulder, throwing him off the platform.

Ah, romance.

* * *

"We are going to talk about how you beat me here, or else!"

Anima raised his hands in surrender, but his knowing smile made it clear that he didn't take Yang seriously. She'd get him to talk... No huntsman was strong enough to resist the nutcracker.

Her annoyance had to be put aside, however, as the rest of her team approached. They certainly took their time.

The group stood just outside the town, blocked by three dozen or so foot tall wall which were designed to protect the town against the like of Creep and Beowulfs. A large gate was built into it, but it wasn't opening.

"Right, then- off to work," Anima said as he bent down slightly. His legs visibly glowed for a moment before he sprung upwards, easily reaching the top of the stone barrier. Wordlessly, he turned back to them, gazing down with a curious smile.

Based on his smug expression, they didn't think they'd be able to follow. Yang matched his smile as a mass of white spread beneath their feet.

Just as easily as he had, they shot upwards, mostly landing quite easily. It was actually rather odd to see that Jaune wasn't the one who slipped up, but Blake. Perhaps a bit of warning was in order... Ah well.

"So, what're we doing?"

Anima turned to Weiss, as the one who spoke, and frowned slightly. "Based on the request, we don't have a whole lot of time before the next attack. As such, we're gonna need to split up. I am more experienced handling bodies, so you all meet with the mayor to learn about the town and our targets habits."

Yang nodded, an action mirrored by the rest of her team, and watched as Anima gave them a casual salute and left.

"I just realized..."

All eyes turned to Jaune, who let that dangle for a moment.

"We don't know where anything here is."

Oum dammit.

* * *

A bell sounded, marking Draíochta's entrance into the mortician's waiting room. He paused, allowing a moment for the owner to reveal himself.

There was no answer.

Dark orbs carefully scrutinized the room, looking for any sign as to their whereabouts. None sprung out at him, but he let that slide for now. Even if the autopsies were complete, there was little doubt that he'd get more value out of the bodies themselves.

Without an ounce of hesitation, he strolled across the room and to the partition that separated the waiting area from the morgue. He slid it aside, giving him a clear view of the room beyond.

It was dark, but that hardly mattered to him. More importantly, nobody was there. Rather, nobody alive was there.

Just counting those outside of the refrigerating units, he marked down three corpses. Two were covered with tarps while the other was just sitting on a table, apparently being embalmed.

Since the woman didn't have any visible injuries, she probably wasn't taken down by Grimm. Instead, he moved towards the nearest of the covered bodies.

The covering was peeled away easily enough, revealing the corpse within. The man, one of the earlier huntsman, looked like he'd been shredded. Deep lacerations cut almost randomly across his chest, arms, legs, and head. No blood leaked from the wounds now, but the permanent stains in the man's torn clothing spoke volumes about how the fight had gone.

Whatever the beast was, it played with its prey, and it hadn't even bothered to eat him. While claw marks littered the body, there were no similar markings from teeth. Since Grimm didn't need food, it wasn't impossible for them to avoid it, but it was often a good way to dispose of bodies. Was it not as intelligent as first thought?

Huntsman dressed to be seen, so they would be the obvious target. Perhaps it was just luck?

No. Even if that was the case, assuming so could cost him. Placing the tarp over the man once more, he moved to the other body.

It was in similar conditions, though he had obviously put in a lot less of a fight. In particular, the man showed no sign of bruising, which was odd. Once one ran out of aura, they usually bruised in the battle that killed them, and those didn't fade when dead.

The only explanation that made sense is that the Grimm somehow made the cuts while the aura was, at least partially, intact. That was a terrifying prospect. His aura was large, and he was an expert at manipulating it, but if the Grimm could ignore it entirely?

He shook his head, replacing the tarp and turning to leave. He had what he needed, and it made little sense to stay here.

It likely wasn't a crime to investigate by himself- the men were huntsman from Vale, after all, both of which negated their jurisdiction- but it wasn't worth the hassle of being caught.

Draíochta paused as he stepped up the partition leading back into the waiting room. A voice could be clearly heard on the other side- two, rather.

"It's tonight, right?"

Oh? Interesting.

"Yeah- Venor will leave us another gift. I wonder who it will be this time."

Venor... Was that what they called the Grimm? It was a distinct possibility, but he would need more information. Unfortunately, he doubted he would get the answer now. Curious, though, Draíochta continued to listen in.

"I suppose you're right." The speaker sighed, apparently annoyed with something. "That things howls keep me up at night, you know?"

"Heh. Why not enjoy the spectacle?"

Realization suddenly crossed Draíochta's face as he backed away from the doorway. He quickly scanned the room, finding only two potential exits: a small window, which was currently closed, and a doorway to... Somewhere.

He picked the door. As he slowly closed it, he let out a sigh of relief. They weren't coming for him.

The new room was an office- the morticians office. A brief glance about the room revealed that it, yet again, had no good exits.

Fortunately, with the extra barrier to block the sound of opening the window, he could make his escape through there.

Time was of the essence, now. They needed to be warned.

If only the school had thought to share the scroll contacts...

* * *

This town's layout was frustrating. If it wasn't for the occasional resident giving them directions, they'd literally have never found city hall. Normally the building would be in the center of town, but no. Some pile of cartilage in the city planning department decided to put it the far corner of the boundaries set by the stone wall.

On top of that, the architects over-designed nearly every building, making it nearly impossible to tell which ones were of actual importance.

Maybe it was some arcane system that everyone here understood implicitly, but Jaune could only sigh as they finally walked in those double doors. It had nearly been a whole half hour since they'd left that wall, and he could only hope that Anima was having an easier time.

A receptionist waved them over and asked for their names.

"I'm Jaune, and this is Weiss, Blake, and Yang. We'd like to speak with the mayor."

She nodded, pressing a button on her keyboard. A few moments later, the computer beeped back at her, and she nodded. "He'll take you now. Just head down the hall to your left- second door on the right."

Following the directions given, Team JWBY made their way inside the man's office.

The mayor sat at his desk, gazing down at some paperwork.

"Welcome to Lenshin!" he greeted, standing up from his chair and making his way over. "My name is Daven- it's a pleasure to meet you all." He went down the line, gradually shaking each of their hands in turn. "So, what brings you to meet with me?"

"We're here on a mission, actually," Blake said, taking a single step forward. "We were hoping you could shed a little light on what's happening here."

He nodded, though he suddenly looked apprehensive. It made a little sense- he wasn't a huntsman, so it made sense for him to be a little careful around people who could easily fight off the entire town.

"I was told an adult huntsman would be coming," he noted, looking back at his desk to check a form really quick.

"Oh, he is," Jaune said, looking off in a random direction. "Anima split off to check in with the mortician."

Daven nodded, suddenly calmer. "I'm afraid he won't be much help. It's pretty obvious what happened, and there's not much you can learn from cut wounds." He paused, using the time to take a deep breath. "You all were hired to deal with a certain Grimm nuisance for us. It strikes weekly, and should actually be here tonight. So long as you're the only ones on the streets, it should come to you."

Well that was convenient. No actual hunting required- just killing. With the four of them and Anima working together, it should be easy.

"If it comes to the town, do you know what it looks like?"

The mayor shrugged, but still answered. "Some people say it looks like a Beowulf, but with scrap metal armor or something. I'd rather avoid Venor altogether- to be honest. Any chance at my death is a chance I'd rather not take."

That sounded reasonable.

And it was called Venor. Giving it a name was handy- made it easier to talk about. Perhaps he'd look up what it means later.

For the meantime, however, Jaune just gave the man a nod. "Thank you for your time."

He smiled. "Don't worry about it. You're doing me a great service."

* * *

 **Holy crap, am I late with this chapter. I just spend the last two days procrastinating, mostly, and then I lost around 1000 words of progress to FF being a douche about whether I'm logged in or not.**

 **Needless to say, I'm happy this thing is finally going out.**

 **Hopefully the next chapter will be more... Timely.**

 **Still accepting questions for that Q+A, by the way. I've only had a few so far, and I'm sure people have more. Don't hesitate to ask, please. It's the least I could do.**

 **For now, I'mma go get some food. It's 7:32, and I haven't slept all night. I need some energy, at least.**


	11. Snowstorm

**/,::::,\\\ Rawr! Spider ambush!**

 **I'm just gonna let you all get right into it. Have fun.**

* * *

Venor sure was taking its time getting here. The whole of team JWBY had been waiting on the rooftop of some cafe for a good three hours now, and the damn thing hadn't so much as made a sound.

Anima hadn't shown up either, which was odd. Sure, they'd forgotten to set a rendezvous, but wouldn't he just go to the mayor at that point? Daven knew where they were, and even had Jaune's scroll number.

Absentees everywhere.

That was fine, though. Push come to shove, he should hear the howling of the beast and come by as quickly as possible. The town may be big, but you could only ever be a good five minute sprint from the center.

The only saving grace of waiting was the food. Being on top of a cafe, they were able to get some muffins to bring up here.

Whether that was worth it... Eh? It was hard to say- it mostly depended on how much longer Venor took.

Sighing, Jaune looked about the group. They seemed about as bored as him, perhaps moreso. When would-

A gong rang somewhere in town, announcing the start of an ominous track of drums kicking up and, shortly thereafter, an almost demonic howl. The gong echoed through the streets, making locating the source impossible, but the howl... It cut through the chilled air and made its presence clear.

The roads were all empty, even the light fixtures disabled, but people could be seen in many of the windows looking out into the city. They were watching, like this was some kind of game or sport.

Venor, however, was not so easily located. Jaune looked around frantically, searching for a sign of the beast. He got one in the form of it leaping straight for them.

Instantly, the group scattered, leaving the beast's lunge ineffective. As it skid to a stop, dragging its claws into the concrete to slow itself down, the nightmare became fully visible.

The most obvious thing about it was its eyes- crimson orbs glowing with hatred as it stared each of them down in turn. It's mouth hung slightly open, revealing inch long fangs running a full course around its jaws.

What remained should have been slightly less terrifying, but it came as a cold comfort to them. As a Beowulf, it's main weapons should have been fangs and inhuman strength. However, based on the blood already coating them, its claws were definitely its primary means of attack.

Thing is, it wasn't using normal claws. The white bone had been replaced with sharpened metal which had long ago lost its pristine color to the ravages of battle.

It didn't even walk normally, instead taking the posture of a cat on the prowl.

Yang made the first move, dashing straight towards the beast before anyone could react. Her blow connected easily, but Venor didn't so much as flinch when the shotgun shell erupted onto its matted fur.

It growled for a moment, its eyes fixing on her, before its lips pulled back in a macabre approximation of a smile.

And then, without hesitation, flung one of its claws out towards her gut- easily plowing her off of the building and into the street below.

Silence reigned for a split second before panic truly set in. With a single step, they all understood his direction. Regroup and run.

Not the most noble plan he'd ever come up with, but it would be a lot better than battling it without Yang.

As they lept from the roof of the building, they all pulled their weapons out. Gambol Shroud remained silent as it entered Blake's hands, but Myrtenaster and Crocea Mors rang with the sound of clashing steel.

They'd blocked entirely on instinct- whirling around in midair to throw their weapons into the path of Venor's claws. Unfortunately, they didn't have anything to brace themselves against in the air, so the block couldn't save them from being plowed into the ground by the significantly heavier Grimm.

Venor snarled as it pressed down, keeping their weapons pressed against their chest. Jaune stared at the beast, his eyes hardened as he cracked a smile.

Ice shot across his sword, spreading onto Venor almost instantly. Before it could react, it's entire arm was encased, allowing Jaune to leverage it off of him.

Weiss took similar action- using a glyph to duck out while showering it in a spray of ice Dust.

The beast looked unaffected by the setback and simply shattered the ice against a nearby wall. It gnashed its teeth, growling at them for a moment before rearing up onto its hind legs. Then, in a declaration of the hunt, it howled.

"Run!" Jaune shouted, turning back and sprinting down the road. The rest of his team followed suit quite readily- even Yang, who he'd have expected to try and brawl the thing.

Sparing a glance behind him as he ran, Jaune noted the speed Venor was tailing them. It was slightly faster, but that could be rectified easily enough. Jaune took a moment to examine his surroundings before turning to Weiss.

"We need a place to corner it somehow. Can you keep us ahead while we look for it?"

She nodded, wordlessly summoning a glyph beneath them all.

* * *

"Do you think they're alright?"

Glynda looked up at him in confusion. "Who do you mean?"

"Team JWBY- the ones who got Anima assigned to them."

She shook her head, looking dazed as she worked her way out of menial-work mode. "Shouldn't they be fine? He's one of the strongest out there, and they're even hunting his specialty."

Ozpin nodded, but didn't face her as he took a brief sip from his mug. "It's not him I'm worried about." The man could take care of himself just fine- even against most experienced huntsman. Given time to prepare, Anima might even be able to take him on. The issue was how he fought, here.

He looked off into the distance, as if seeing Lenshin from here. The destruction that would await.

* * *

They'd found a place to trap it. A factory wasn't ideal, since it had high windows, but their small size should still prevent it from using them to escape. The more pressing issue was how strong Venor was.

If it could easily smash through concrete walls, there wasn't a whole lot they'd be able to do to trap it. Then again, there was only one way to find out.

Sprinting through the raised iron doors, team JWBY made their way into the darkened space. They followed Blake implicitly, given that the girl had far superior vision, and thereby made it to the far wall.

Grimm weren't exactly lacking in their senses, either, but Venor visibly hesitated at the entrance. He paused, raising up on his hind legs to sniff the area out. It was likely he was checking for additional threats- smart.

Scarily smart.

Apparently content with its answer, Venor lowered back down onto all fours as he stared straight at them. Even cloaked in the shadows of the building, its crimson eyes pierced through effortlessly.

Its momentary fear quelled, it dug its claws into the ground and lept forward. The mass of fur and bone flew through the air claws outstretched to rend them all.

Jaune smiled as he, Yang, and Weiss ducked out. Blake stayed behind, standing completely still as she met its eyes.

Venor's claws drove straight through her, smoothly continuing several inches into the concrete wall. As it tore its paw back, however, no blood stained its hand. It blanked for a moment before its nose prompted it to look up.

Blake fell down upon it, Gambol Shroud mid-swing towards its left eye.

The beast was less than willing to take the blow, springing back a step to dodge, but that left it airborne for a split second.

In that moment, Jaune dashed out with his shield held before him. Yang mirrored him, cocking back her fist as they synchronized their attacks.

Striking from opposite ends, the pair prevented the beast from moving just long enough for ice to grasp at its legs.

A cheer escaped their lips as Venor- immobilized by Yang and Jaune- was unable to stop the ice from subsuming its entire body. Slowly, the group stepped back to admire the handiwork.

Jaune took the moment for what it was- a chance to finish it. He approached its head, lifting his sword to pierce its frozen eye.

As the blade fell, however, he could only widen his eyes in shock. There was no time to react, even with the extra instant given by seeing that hatred filled orb turn on him.

Ice rained around them as its prison shattered. Venor ducked forward, easily slipping past the blade as it slammed its skull into Jaune's chest. He was sent flying back, plowing through a good chunk of a conveyor belt as he was pinned by the metal.

Jaune groaned as he forced himself up from the decimated machinery. He couldn't remain idol- it would most certainly go for the ki-

The world fell silent as he looked on, barely able to comprehend what he saw. It had barely been a second- a mere second that he had been out of the fight- but it had already gone to hell.

Yang and Blake, who had immediately lept in the moment it was freed, lay on the ground- likely unconscious. Weiss, however...

Blood splattered on the concrete wall in a massive arc- the source more than obvious as Weiss slammed into the ground. Venor seemed to smile as it looked down on the defeated girl. It layed its paw on her bleeding chest in an almost genial manner- softly, as if it intended to staunch the liquid flowing from it.

It didn't.

Venor growled as it lowered its face down to hers. Jaune tore himself free of the machine, lunging forward, but even he could see how late his arrival would be. He didn't even have his weapons anymore, and his fists wouldn't have so much as annoyed the monstrous creature.

He screamed- though what, he couldn't say.

Confusingly the beast actually looked up. It turned- but not towards him.

In the next instant, the world was consumed by fire.

* * *

He was late- he knew it. That barely mattered now, however, as Draíochta crushed the crystal in his hand.

A blast of flame, easily sufficient to burn most humans alive, tore through the factory. He didn't pause to see the results, instead keeping up his sprint as he lunged for where the Grimm was.

Venor lept out of the fireball, seemingly unaffected by the embers still clinging to its fur. Draíochta spared no time, dashing towards it with his Aura coming alight across his entire body.

It reacted well, turning to face him before it had even landed. It attempted to back away- get a moment to recover its footing- but Draíochta charged ahead.

Snarling at him, it swept a hand downward. Draíochta caught it on his arm- the steel claws merely bouncing off of his defensive barrier. Unfortunately, for it- at any rate- that left Venor unable to properly defend itself.

Using his free hand, Draíochta swung out towards its right leg. The beast defended, obviously, by batting the arm away. With neither arm in rotation, Draíochta spun to the side as he flung his foot up towards its chin.

The blow connected, sending it reeling backwards unsteadily, but he didn't let up. Smacking aside its strikes aside with his hands as he threw kick after kick into Venor's chest, he continuously forced it to retreat.

With one final strike at the beasts abdomen, he slams it into the back wall.

Leaving it there for an instant, he pulls out a pair of Dust crystals. One of them was red, and near identical to the one he'd used earlier. The other...

Dashing forward, he slams his palm into Venor's chest.

His hand quaked through the stress of holding back the explosion, but the results spoke for themselves. In a burst of fire and lightning Venor had shot through the solid concrete and quite a distance down the road.

Clenching his fist to stop the shaking, Draíochta turned back into the building. The fire he'd started was already dying, but the people in there seemed... Fine? The girl- Weiss- was bleeding, but her aura was visibly repairing the damage. Yang and Blake lay out in the open- out cold- but they'd be fine so long as Venor didn't make his way back inside.

That Jaune fellow was missing, but there wasn't time to look for him. Not now, at any rate.

An angry howl cemented the idea in his head.

Draíochta braced himself against the factory. Then, in an instant, he shot off with inhuman speed. As his feet touched the ground, they didn't skid. Instead, they slipped across the paved road as easily as ice- better, actually.

It was amazing what one could do with Aura.

The Grimm lept at him, its mouth open and claws poised to strike in an instant. Draíochta matched the effort, flipping into the air as he withdrew another dust crystal.

This might take a while.

* * *

Rage.

That was the only way to describe what he felt.

It was rare for him to feel genuinely angry at anything. His entire life, he'd tried to be peaceful, even to those that bullied or mocked him. He didn't rebuke those who taunted him, nor flare up when he was inevitably beaten.

Now, though, as he looked down on Weiss, whose blood soaked the floor, he nodded in realization.

Jaune was pissed, and there was nothing for him to do about it.

The flames that enveloped her had cauterize the wounds, leaving her stable. She should survive.

But only if Venor died.

It didn't take long to figure out the issue with that line of thinking. He wasn't strong enough for that. Despite all of his training, he was nowhere near even Yang's strength, and look at what happened to her.

And Weiss...

 _"What do you want?"_

The words surprised him, given that they seemed to come from nowhere. The voice was new, yet strangely familiar- like someone you met a long time ago. It's voice was smooth, eerily so, and spoken as though it knew something you didn't.

Jaune looked around, noting that he couldn't see anyone new, and instead answering the room at large.

"To keep my friends safe." The answer was clear, and there was never any doubt. He'd always wanted to be a hero. He'd always wanted to keep people safe. All that changed is there was that extra layer of specificity.

He couldn't save everyone, but he would save them.

A chuckle echoed throughout the room, the tone a fascinating mixture of amusement and apathy.

 _"So you wish to kill those that intend to harm them?"_

His fists clenched tightly at his sides. He was being misled somehow, and he knew it, but the voice was also right. There were threats he would need to end to keep them safe, and there was no doubt that he was willing to do it, too.

He nodded.

Silence reigned.

 _"Then I am at your service."_

Jaune blinked, finally realizing whose voice it was- his.

And then, the world turned red once more.

* * *

"The hardest path you can take is alone," Draíochta stated, smiling at Venor despite the blood leaking from his lips. "But that is the path that makes you strongest."

He'd grown into what he was from over a decade's worth of training time and an equal amount of experience. The Grimm seemed just as capable, having obviously existed for far longer than most.

It would have been an interesting specimen to study, if there were an option, be he would settled for a class of wills.

He flew forward, Aura and dust flaring as he threw another heavy blow the creature's way. It countered as it always did, soaking up the damage and throwing its own devastating blow at him.

Draíochta managed to divert the strike with one of his legs, but that only stopped the claws from tearing open his chest. The Grimm still forced its paw outward, sending him careening backwards.

The two met eyes for what felt like the fiftieth time, and it very well might have been. They were both resistant to virtually all the damage the other could dish out, but were still waning- him from fatigue and the Grimm from its arms and legs slowly, but surely, burning away.

A battle of attrition. Not exactly his favorite fighting method, given that his style revolved around the usage of dust, but it was made worse by being up against a single opponent. A bunch of smallfry could be easily dispatched, hence his name being in the Guinness Book of World Records for most Beowulfs killed in a single minute.

Uphill battles, however, were infinitely more entertaining.

Matching the beasts roar with his own battlecry, he lept forward once more. He parried the initial strike and palmed its paw upwards to deflect the second. The clash continued, with each blow from either side being batted aside or tanked without comment.

They finally broke apart, sliding back and using the ground to reach a standing position.

Draíochta took heavy breaths, but there was no exhaustion behind it. Adrenaline coursed through his veins. Sure, the scenery was suffering a little, but the town had sicced Venor on them in the first place.

Speaking of, the beast took up its own stance opposite him. It stood upon its hind legs, thereby letting it free its arms for what looked like a defensive move.

Odd, but Grimm of its age rarely weren't.

"Come on, you overgrown sack of potatoes! Come at me!" The taunt didn't even bring a growl from the normally feisty creature. Was something wrong? Draíochta carefully, so as not to let Venor out of his sight, scanned the area.

It didn't take long to find what it was worried about.

"RAH!"

The cry came from the far right, behind one of the previously obliterated buildings. The thing in question shot over the rubble, flipping in the air such that it landed on all fours.

It was... Jaune?

His appearance was the same, but he was unmistakably different. His eyes shown with malice on par with the Grimm themselves and his posture spoke of something feral. The kid had his sword clasped in one hand, but the other was empty. He'd left his shield behind...

Jaune dashed forward, using his prone start to gain traction as he blurred towards his target.

Venor's attempts to defend were futile. Each strike it blocked was soon followed up, and Jaune didn't so much as react when the beast counterattacked. He merely rushed forward, again and again, while gouging piece after piece of his opponent out.

Blood repeatedly splattered across the ground, shot from the growing number of wounds on the Grimm's body, while Jaune continued his violent fury. Even as the beast fell, crushed by his inhuman ferocity, he continued to hack into its flesh.

Only ten seconds had passed since he'd first appeared.

Finally coming back to reality, Draíochta jogged over and placed a hand on the boys shoulder. He froze, only his head moving to stare directly at him.

No words were exchanged- Jaune out of a lack of need and Draíochta out of a lack of will.

His eyes were terrifying.

They were still the blue he'd had upon meeting, but there was more there now. The veins visibly shown through giving it a horrific red appearance, while the intent they bore was absolutely murderous.

Jaune blinked, and just like that, it was gone.

* * *

 **So, because I want to end here, it's gonna be a bit short... Sorry. I do, however, have a consolation prize which will be released after someone guesses what Venor is based off of. I will give a visual description to help you.**

 **Ahem.**

 **Tall, rounding about six feet when standing vertically, while coated in grey fur. Steel coats various parts of its body, including the entirety of its claws, and it's ears are elongated.**

 **Happy hunting.**


	12. Can't Have Ice Things

**Holy fuck am I late... Uh... Come on, brain, think of some excuses! Surely something happened!**

 **Unfortunately not. I... Just kinda forgot. I got this chapter to 3131 words and then just left it sitting there for a week.**

 **I don't have a whole lot to say, but I would like to note that nobody guessed who Venor was based off of. In fact, nobody tried. Regardless, I don't like wasting content, so... I'll be keeping hold of it for later.**

 **I still encourage people to try and guess. I didn't make it that difficult, if you know anything about me from my other stories. Even if you don't, you should know that names are always important in those that I create.**

 **Regardless, it's time for another chapter, and I must preemptively clarify on my portrayal of sociopathy. Not all sociopaths are like this, nor are most. This is an extreme case of someone with far too much power to need to bother handling his actions in all but the most... Ironwood of circumstances.**

* * *

"Come in."

Ozpin looked up from his desk as the elevator doors slid open, revealing an old friend of sorts.

"Anima," he greeted, standing up. "It's been a long time, old friend."

"Indeed, it has," the man returned as he walked inward. "Unfortunately, I do not come bearing good news."

Oz sighed, taking a quick sip from his mug before setting it down. "Did you kill one of my students- by accident?" he added, realizing how that sounded.

The man's eyes widened in surprise as a genuine look of shock came over him. Apparently it never occurred to him that the massive collateral he seemed to bring with him could affect those he worked with as well. The only saving grace is that, thus far, he'd fought things alone and exclusively in the wild.

Regardless, that would be a no, so Ozpin let it go without comment.

"I came here to give a report on the mission!" Well that didn't sound so bad. It had clearly been completed, seeing as he was already back and none of the students had perished. _By his hand._ That thought was soundly crushed by his knowledge of the team. If Anima wasn't responsible, they'd survive virtually anything.

"Well then, how did it go?"

"The mission itself went well enough. The Grimm was slain, and all that." Ozpin nodded, silently asking him to elaborate. "Well, the town didn't react well to us killing Venor. Apparently it meant a little more to them than just a pest..." Anima paused, seemingly reluctant to relive it, but he eventually began the tale.

"It all started once Jaune killed Venor..."

* * *

Within the span of a blink, he was back. Jaune looked up at Draíochta in confusion before glancing around.

There wasn't much to look at... Smoldering rubble, an evaporating Grimm corpse, and a bakery that had somehow evaded the ravages of battle. If it wasn't abandoned, Draíochta might have actually congratulated himself over it.

He couldn't, though, especially with the look of horror that gradually overtook Jaune's face.

"Did... D-did I do this?"

Draíochta shook his head as he wrapped his arms around the boy. "No, this is all on me. You killed Venor- you're the hero." It wasn't as reassuring as he thought it'd be, which actually annoyed Draíochta, but he didn't comment on it. Socializing would always be a headache, and he could at least recognize the fear of oneself in his eyes.

He'd felt much the same not too long ago.

"The missions complete- we can go home now." That seemed to get better results with the kid, actually causing a look of calm to cross his face. Not the ordinary kind, unfortunately, but he'd settle for apathy over traumatized.

A new voice joined in, then, and ruined the whole moment for everyone.

"You can't leave now! You just destroyed half our town!"

Oh great, this again. Like he hadn't gone through this enough times already.

Draíochta sighed as he turned to face the speaker. The man wasn't alone- far from it, actually. More than thirty people had already gathered at the edge of the former battlefield, and more were on their way.

"Fret not, citizens! I can pay for the damages!" His shouted words were completely ineffective against the crowd, as they instead caused them to shout their grievances back at him. What was their deal? They were in an entirely abandoned section of town and offered to rebuild the sodding place. Why were they screaming obscenities and claiming he ruined their town?

Hell, they sicced Venor on them, so shouldn't...

It clicked, then. Over the course of history, many Grimm came to be worshiped like dark gods that needed sacrifice. All known cults had been wiped out during the Great War, but nothing was stopping a new one from forming now.

He sighed, ignoring the threats and insults thrown his way. If they were foolish enough to worship a dark god in the first place, they deserved to have their religion crushed. Unfortunately, as more harsh words descended upon them, it became clear that Jaune... Jaune wasn't taking it as well.

"ENOUGH!" Draíochta shouted, silencing the crowd in an instant. A moment passed, with neither side saying a word, before he stepped towards them defiantly. "You dare demean us for the work we were hired to do!? Though you may have lied, and only wished to feed your favorite little monster, but we just did our jobs! You have no right to complain!"

All eyes were on him, various levels of anger or detestment held in them, and he willingly took it all in. He was already hated by many for his experiments in Aura. This was hardly something to care about.

Finally, someone spoke up to oppose him. "Venor defended this town! We have yet to even see another Grimm since he arrived!"

Draíochta's eyes scanned the crowd, locating the one who called down at him. He didn't recognize him, but the man was obviously just an normal citizen. A baker, if the flour coating his pants signified anything.

"And what of the sacrifices? Is not one person a week more than the Grimm would take normally?" That was left unanswered, so he continued. "And you're sacrificing huntsman as well- the very people who would protect you from those incursions!"

The crowd murmured at that, talking amongst themselves in an attempt to counter that.

Apparently, they thought they'd found one.

"We couldn't hire a permanent hunter to protect us. It's too expensive!" Ooh... The mayor finally shows himself. Interesting.

"Alright, Daven, and how do you suggest we solve that problem? Killing us in large numbers, thereby creating a shortage?"

Draíochta smiled at them, raising his arms to ask for a solution. Being a huntsman was a dangerous job- probably the most dangerous one out there. Sure, many huntsman worked with the goal of protecting humanity, but it was still a career. They had to be paid fairly.

If they weren't, they'd only be driven to crime. Like Torchwick.

Like him.

"Tell me!" Draíochta ordered. "What should we do!?"

Nothing.

"Then if you don't mind, we're leaving."

As he turned, shouts echoed down at him. They were incomprehensible as a whole, but the outrage was clear. Draíochta sighed. Of course reasoning with fanatical Grimm worshipers wasn't going to work. What was he thinking.

Draíochta spared a look back at Jaune. He was spacing out- clearly uncomprehending of the world around him. Good. Then he wouldn't know what was about to happen.

One hand came down upon the students neck, knocking him out instantly.

"Now then!" his voice cut through the noise, silencing it. They all started back at him, their breaths caught. "I heard you like to play with fire!"

He palmed two crystals, both a stunning crimson.

"Allow me to indulge you all!"

* * *

"You murdered an entire town on a mission to protect it?"

The man nodded, frowning somewhat. "That about sums it up, yes."

Ozpin inhaled sharply, barely managing to keep his composure as he met Anima's eyes.

"Do you realize how much paperwork that leaves me with?"

Anima smiled, chuckling lightly. "None. Just mark the mission as a success, and we can be on our way."

Oz blinked, realizing the twisted logic in that. Venor had been slain, and with the townsfolk gone, completely annihilated by Anima's hand, there was no liability. They were all complicit in murders, too... Ozpin sighed, narrowing his eyes at him. As aggravating as the realization was, the sociopath was actually right.

It took all of his will to suppress the natural instinct to smash him through the floor, though.

"And the team?" he asked. There is no way they'd have handled watching him slaughter an entire town well, and he knew that, so he had to have done something.

"Most of team JWBY was already down. I just knocked out Jaune and razed the place in time to take them all outside the walls."

Oh. The walls had been left standing. How novel.

"You're not going on any missions for the next three months." Anima frowned, clearly upset that his main source of entertainment had been taken. It was kind of depressing how stopping him from murdering Grimm was the only punishment he could realistically lay down, seeing as he was technically an Atlas citizen.

He'd have to bring in Ironwood later.

"Oh, and one last thing." He paused, giving time for Anima to look back up at him. "You're not taking any more missions that involve people."

His chuckling response wasn't exactly... Comforting.

* * *

"And then I tore it to pieces."

"What do you mean?" Yang asked, looking up at Jaune with confusion evident on her face.

"I meant exactly what I said!" Did she not listen to the story? He'd gone over the whole of it- even the voice and the way nothing seemed to affect him.

She rolled her eyes as she fall back onto the bed. "All of us working together could barely move the damned thing- and we're supposed to believe that you killed it on your own?"

"It could be his semblance," Blake interrupted, causing Jaune's eyes to widen. Was that it? He could enter some sort of animalistic rage mode? Useful, sure, but it sounded like a less practical version of Yang's semblance. He couldn't always rely on being pissed, now could he?

Even then, he wasn't able to think. The extra strength and durability hardly matter if he can't formulate plans or even basic level strategies.

It also made it worthless against people. There was no way to merely subdue someone while like that.

 _Dammit Universe- throw me a bone once in a while!_

Regardless, he nodded at the idea. The whole situation would be nearly impossible to explain without some absurd powerup involved.

"So, he's the Hulk now?" Yang added, suddenly angry about the situation. "That is so not fair."

Oh- she means in relation to her semblance. That made sense, he supposed. Whenever she took damage, she got proportionally stronger, but that hadn't been enough against Venor. Now here he comes, requiring only powerful emotion, and getting a far less balanced boost.

Wait, was she arguing that he's _too_ powerful? What happened to being on the same team?

"At any rate, we can't exactly test it out," Blake stated, growing annoyed with the conversation. "We only have two examples of him getting that level of angry, and he certainly wasn't that strong at the docks. Perhaps mindless aggression was just a tactic that Venor couldn't keep up with."

Jaune sighed before finally nodding in agreement. There was another thing to discuss.

"So, what about Weiss?"

He could see frowns form on the others' faces, a stark reminder of what had happened. The heiress had survived the mission thanks to her Aura patching her up, but she'd be hospitalized for the next few days, and still on medical leave for two or more weeks after that. The Vytal festival started in only five days, so she'd miss the whole thing.

And they'd be out a member, too.

"What about her?" Yang asked, halfheartedly laughing it off. "She'll be fine- she gets to see us kick butt for her without even lifting a finger!"

That... Actually was reassuring. Leave it to Yang to bring a twinge of a smile to his face.

Unfortunately, that got kicked in the teeth a second later when Blake's scroll jingled a few times. Normally, a scroll notification would be laughable to worry about, but this was also Blake. Several weeks back, she'd set it to go off when news articles with White Fang in them were put out.

Multiple in the span of a minute- definitely a robbery, and a big one at that.

"They robbed a train," Blake explained as she set her scroll down a moment later. "Nobody can figure out how, either. The actual train arrived in tact, no spottings were made, and there weren't any unusual stops or obstacles."

A mystery, huh? Well, that was one way to occupy the time until Weiss recovered. Hopefully it wouldn't end in a disaster like last time. _Just to be safe, though..._

"No running off without us."

Huh. Yang beat him to the punch.

"Of course not- we're a team." They both stared at her meaningfully. "Hey! I am not that bad!" The stares continued, but she eventually shrugged them off. "Anyway, I will fill you in on any plans I'm taking part in. If you want to get involved, that's on you."

It's almost like she didn't think they'd join virtually anything to keep them all safe.

Jaune frowned, remembering the status of their forth member- Weiss... His girlfriend? They'd never actually spoken on it, and they'd never been on a proper date either.

He chuckled, ignoring the strange looks from his teammates. She wasn't out for two days, meaning he had that much time to prepare a special day.

 _To the grindstone._

* * *

Roman sighed as the familiar sound of heels clicking on the floor approached. When he turned, however, it was with a bright smile on his face.

"Cinder!" he greeted, raising his cane up in a cordial gesture. "Oh, it's been far to long!"

She seemed unimpressed. Well, it was worth a shot. He let the act go, setting the cane against the floor as he blankly watched her glance around the warehouse. She still said nothing, which wasn't exactly comforting, but it was better than the insults or threats he was used to.

"I can assume the preparations are complete?" she asked, though it didn't really sound like a question. Man, this girl really was one note, wasn't she? If that note wasn't violent murder, he'd have actually called her out on it.

"Yes," he answered instead, though his tone was still a deadpan. "I managed to teach quite a few of them how to make bombs. The casualties... Incidental."

A smile graced her lips at that, and for once he was comfortable with it. If she was happy with someone elses suffering, he might be spared his own.

Her eyes continued to roam around, but no longer at the boxes. She was looking for something, he could tell, but what? Nobody else was here but him and...

His left eye twitched as he continued to stare at her. She wanted Neo. For what, he couldn't say, but the idea alone was dangerous enough to have him on edge. There wasn't anything he could do about it- at least right now- but there was no way he was letting her get trapped too. Fortunately, Cinder seemed to give up after a few more seconds.

"Where is she?" Or not... At least he had the perfect excuse, and one that wasn't technically a lie. "She went out to get some ice cream."

He just helpfully left out that she'd done that an hour ago and was only missing for thirty seconds or so.

Her lips curled in what was obviously meant to be a pout but looked more like a snarl. "I suppose I'll leave my message with you, then. I'm making a team to attend Beacon, and we need a fourth member."

Another sigh escaped Roman's lips as he noted the absence of both Emerald and Mercury. No doubt, they were preparing for that right now.

"I will pass it along," he said, nodding. "Will that be all, then?"

Cinder chuckled- actual laughs escaping her throat. Was she dying? Please be dying.

"My dear Roman, we still have much to talk about." That she was dying?

She didn't elaborate, so he held the vain hope that he would be free from this mess, but he never once thought it would be true. She was going to be a demon who haunted his every waking second unless he killed her. Unfortunately, that was a tad above his pay grade. Instead, he gestured with his cane towards a small office in the corner of the building. "Very well. Come on in."

* * *

"Ironwood?"

The general glanced down at his scroll where the face of Winter Schnee stared back at him. "Yes?"

"I would like to request some time of leave."

That was unusual... Across her years of service, she'd only ever taken days off because of injuries. Perhaps it was a family matter? "Where will you be going?"

"Vale, sir."

James nodded, looking down as he could see the city through his ship. "I expect you to be on duty once the festival begins, but you have until then." She nodded, giving her approval. "Very well- you may go care for your sister."

She didn't react to that, but it was pretty clear what her intentions were anyway. The fact that she didn't deny it was damning enough.

It wasn't his business, however, so he instead looked back up to the good Doctor Poledina. "What was it you wanted from me?"

"Oh, uh... Well-"

"Spit it out."

The man composed himself rather quickly, then. Perhaps he worked better under pressure?

"I would like to insert my daughter into the Vytal festival as a competitor."

Taking a deep breath, Ironwood met his eyes. "And the issue of her team?" Really, what did he expect? He only had one Penny, and there was a requirement of four people to attend.

He shivered, imagining what it would be like for four of her working together. It would be a nightmare, to all but one man.

"I was actually hoping that you could help me with that." Ironwood's eye twitched, already guessing what he meant, but it wasn't obvious enough apparently. "Could you lend me three of your soldiers? They wouldn't have to actually fight."

James inhaled sharply, but nodded. Anything to get him out of his office.

Giving a quick wave, the Doctor left, slipping the door shut behind him. Ironwood sighed, letting go a breath he hadn't realized he'd been holding. Unfortunately, he wasn't quite done with annoyances today. There was still that meeting with Ozpin to discuss Draíochta's actions on his latest mission.

He could only imagine what the man had been up to.

 _I'm sure Ozpin will tell me all about it later,_ he groaned, getting up from his chair. This was gonna be a long day, as usual.

* * *

 **BOOM! What's up guys, SoloRenektonOnly here, back for another League of Legends gameplay. Tonight, we're getting some of that full crit Garen in the top lane.**

 **Yeah, right. Anyway, I wanted to give everyone a congratulations on making it this far. Around 50% of the people that read any of my stories, this one included, have stopped by chapter 3. That's... Annoying, but I get it. The only reason I never stop there is that I only read from those who write genuinely good stories. The only poorly written story I've ever read was by The Omnipresent Sage and his work of the same name.**

 **Even then, it's good on the only level I care about- the story.**

 **Problem is, I can't properly relate to people, and that makes it difficult to write for them. The fact that you read this far in- that you care for something I've written- means a lot, and I would love to hear from you all.**

 **Please review- please message me- however you want. Just tell me what you think- what you like- what you don't. It could only possibly make me better at creating things that you enjoy.**

 **Thanks in advance, Draco.**


	13. Snowbird's Talons

**My god- a chapter that I get out on time! What are the odds!**

 **Pretty good, actually, but that's mostly because this chapter is part of a project in my creative writing course, so I can write for an extra hours everyday in which I can do almost nothing else.**

 **Kinda... Makes things a lot smoother for me.**

 **I am looking for some voice actors for an audio version of the this story. I will be covering Anima and a bunch of side characters, but I honestly can't match my voice to most of the cast. If you're interested, please send me a message and I'll hit you back with a Discord link where auditions will be held.**

 **In the meantime, though, I should probably let you get on to it. Peace.**

* * *

A dull throb pulled Weiss from the realm of unconsciousness. She must have rolled over again. _Ugh..._ She curled up, clinging to the covers in an attempt to avoid the white light that would bring wakefulness.

She normally would rag on Jaune for this kind of behavior, but he was allowed to actually leave the damn bed. She still had another day of captivity, and the more she slept that away, the sooner she could get ready for the tournament.

Even if she wasn't continuing into the second round, she would be there to represent their team in the first round. The anticipation, however, was agony. _One more day,_ she reminded herself as she surrendered to the specter of reality. _One more day._

Sitting up in the bed, Weiss did a quick onceover of the room. Nothing had changed since she'd fallen asleep, save for the nurse who had been there at the time. Now, she was left to sit in the sterile white room to... do nothing.

She had her scroll, but without a charger, she wouldn't dare waste the battery on entertainment. Normally, she'd be able to watch the news on the TV suspended in the corner of the room, but the hospital service had gone out yesterday and wouldn't be restored until tomorrow.

 _If only my team was here._ They were annoying, undoubtedly, but that was part of their charm. It would certainly beat boredom, at any rate.

Yang and Blake usually visited in the afternoon, heading back before dinner. That gave her a good...

Her eyes roamed the room for the clock, a sigh escaping her lips when it read 8:30. Great- that only left her a whole five and a half hours to fill.

Well, she did have that book Blake had left...

Was it safe to read something she'd provided? Despite her attempts at hiding it, Blake hardly kept the smut reading a secret. I mean, they had a public bookshelf. That's like making a gigantic underground passage to hide some supernatural entity.

Weiss shook her head, dismissing that thought. Surely nobody was that stupid, right? Blake at least kept the more... Risque things out of view.

The book looked back at her, the cover providing no hint as to the contents. The title, Winter Is Coming, was a clear homage to Atlesian history- specifically the time Edward Stark managed to save the Atlesian army from a blizzard during the Faunus Rights Revolution. The author's name was unknown, however, but that spoke well of the person. They weren't on the shelf in their dorm, at least.

Flipping the book over in her hands, she skimmed through the blurb. It gave vague details on the retreat, and it referenced someone by the name of Aquian. Perhaps he was the main character, or the antagonist? It didn't exactly specify which side of the war it was written from, even though the title implied being with Atlas.

Maybe it was worth a read. It's not like she had anything else to fill the time with...

She spared a glance to her scroll, where a pile of messages were left unread. Jaune had yet to visit, though he'd been messaging her constantly. What was with him? Yang and Blake found the time to come, and they hadn't been given her tutoring for classes.

If he didn't have time to visit, he could stew by himself. With a quick breath, she turned the device off and turned back to the book.

The prologue took up the whole first page, but it was easily skipped. It just explained the battles leading into the conflict, but she already knew the history. Yawn.

 _Here we are,_ she noted as the story finally began.

 _"Are you sure this is wise, sir?" Bruma asked, looking up from the plans to meet Aquian's eyes._

 _"Of course," he said, taking a step forward. "Have I led you astray, yet?" He smiled, and it only grew wider at Bruma's pout. He planted a hand on her shoulder, comforting her. "I know I've made some... Poor choices in the past, but this isn't one of them."_

 _She nodded._

 _"Thank you."_

 _He leaned in, placing-_

Weiss stopped, staring down at the text blankly. What else had she expected?

A war story, but shut up. So much effort to mask the content, and it didn't even follow through with a gradual progress-

"Am I interrupting something?"

Blue eyes shot up to the door, locking onto an equally pale hue. "Winter!" she shouted in surprise. "What are you doing here?"

Her sister spared a quick glance to the title of the book, and it was clear she recognized it. "Well," she began with a smirk, "you knew I was coming."

Oh. A joke. Thank Oum, she was in a good mood. Either that, or she'd be hearing more about 'her'taste in books later.

 _Dammit Blake._

"I didn't, actually," Weiss sighed, looking back towards her scroll. It was off, still, but it would have been lighting up constantly if it were on. Damn him, making her miss something of actual importance. Leave it to Jaune to be annoying while not even there.

"You're ignoring someone."

Weiss looked up in shock, but Winter waved it off.

"You've always been easy to read- but differently to most. Instead of wearing your emotions on your sleeve, you hold them in your eyes." As if to prove her point, Weiss raised an eyebrow, but it quickly fell when the realization hit her. "Who is it, and do I need to deal with them personally?"

"No!" Weiss exclaimed, throwing her hands up in an X. "I've... I've met someone."

Winter nodded, not needing any further explanation. "And you're angry at him, I presume?"

"I..." She sighed, letting her head fall. "I don't know what I feel right now. Jaune's been messaging me constantly, but the few I read were only excuses and apologies, neither of which would be necessary if he just came here in person."

"Have you told him that?" The question brought a sigh to Weiss' lips, which was answer enough. Winter took a seat in the chair beside the bed, leaning in towards her sister. "I find that, with men, the blunt approach is generally best."

"Funny, you seem to use that on everyone," Weiss mused, but her tone gave her away. Winter had always been upfront about her opinions, but she was rarely abrasive. Perhaps she was right... Jaune was unusually dense, after all. "I'll give it a shot," she conceded.

Her sister smiled, though it took a trained eye to recognize it as such. "So, what else do you want to do today?"

Weiss raised an eyebrow at her, gesturing to the bed she was on. There weren't any actual restraints, but she got the message either way.

"See, normally the Atlas military would have no authority over Beacon students in the city of Vale," Winter began, peeling away the covers. "As an Atlesian citizen, however..." She stopped, no doubt seeing the look of realization come across Weiss' face.

"I could go for some real food," Weiss said, looking at the wall balefully as if she could see the cafeteria staff from here. Even the best they offered paled in comparison to Beacon food, much less what they had in Atlas. "Are there any nearby restaurants?"

"I'm sure there are," Winter said, a small glint shown in her eye that managed to evade Weiss' notice. "I'm sure there are."

* * *

"Damn..." Qrow grunted, planting his now empty Jack and Coke onto the counter. "You know, for a huntsman obstacle course, I was expecting a little more of a show."

The bartender didn't respond, but he refilled the drink at least. Good. He could keep his hands.

That particular episode of Ninja Hunter wrapped up about as usual- with a good 20% of contestants finishing the whole course. Though, even that was actually a low number. A good half of the contestants lost about halfway through because of an arm strength challenge.

Who can't climb up a cliff with one hand? I mean really, you might as well not be a huntsman at that point.

Qrow sighs, looking down at his drink. It was empty, and his glare didn't make the vanishing liquor return.

"Alright, I'm out," Qrow states, tossing some Lien onto the counter. "Keep the change." The huntsman made to leave, but was stopped by the door by the bartender and his two identical friends. The man was speaking, but the words were just a jumbled mess of sounds.

Qrow shook his head, trying to comprehend the nonsense.

"You... had... twelve... drinks..." Qrow slowly translated, sparing a glance back at the arrangement of shot-glasses he had made. "What of it?"

The man held up the Lien he'd tossed onto the counter and shouted out something about 'not enough'.

"Fine," Qrow sighed, reaching into his pocket to withdraw some more. Tossing a hundred, enough to cover the tab on its own, he staggered back towards the door. "Now have a nice night, you three."

The ground tried to hug him on his way out, but it would be a cold day in hell when he accepted it. Instead, he leaned back into the door as he took in his surroundings. Qrow was in the middle of Vale- the service district, if his eyes didn't deceive him. Knowing those treacherous bastards, however, it wouldn't surprise him.

Of course, he knew they were lying when Winter Schnee strolled right on by him without so much as a cursory glance his way. Man, he must be more wasted than he thought... Then again, what about the chance that she was real? If she was here, who was guarding Hades?

He needed to check to be sure... Yeah, that was why. No ulterior motives at all...

* * *

"So, what about this place caught your eye?" Weiss asked as the two of them made their way to... Somewhere. Winter wasn't very forthcoming about the details. Knowing her, it was either a military secret or a joke.

However, neither of those options really made Weiss disengage. Winter was here, and she had gotten her out of the stuffy hospital. That alone would have made it worth it, but to see something interesting and get food out of it? Let's just say she was glad Winter was back.

"The SDC has recently started to branch into other industries- outside of Atlas, I mean." She let that sit for a moment, letting Weiss figure out that the SDC had bought the place on her own. "This particular establishment has been hiring a string of musicians and comedians as attractions, and I've only heard good things."

That sounded pleasant, especially if they peaked Winter's interest. It had taken almost a year for Weiss' voice to meet her sisters standards, so this would certainly be an interesting trip.

Weiss nodded, scanning the area in hopes of finding the establishment first. No such luck, though, as Winter turned towards a large oak door leading into an unmarked building. "This is it?" Winter didn't say anything in response, but she opened the door and gestured for her to enter.

Cordially, Weiss walked into the waiting area. A bell hung on a wall, meant to signal the staff that someone had entered, so she pressed it while Winter closed the door behind them.

Mere seconds passed before a curtain was pulled aside and a waiter entered. "Welcome to Dre-" he paused, clearly recognizing who they were. Or, at least, he recognized Winter. He smiled. "How can I serve you two today?"

"A table, by the corner, please," Winter said, already strolling into the restaurant. Weiss followed, somewhat sheepishly, as they were given a place to sit.

The interior was loosely decorated, with Grimm heads accompanied by paintings of a variety of kinds and clearly different artists. The walls themselves, a rather drab brown, were painted wood, while the floor was a checkerboard pattern of tiles.

The actual furniture, however, seemed to have a lot more effort put into presentation. The table they were sat at was made of mahogany, or so it appeared, and was covered in a well embroided tablecloth. A pair of candles, most of them unlit, adorned the top of each, and a bread bowl sat between them.

Chairs were a bit of a sticking point for many people, but...

"What's this place called?"

"Drehung."

But Drehung didn't disappoint. While less effort was put into their appearance, the seats themselves were quite comfortable. Speaking of chairs, quite a few of them had people on top, and all eyes were on a stage. A show, then? What convenient timing. She'd have to thank Winter for it later.

Menus were set before them but went ignored in favor of the curtain drawing open.

 _Or I can damn her to hell for all eternity._

It was Jaune. He wasn't even in a disguise, either, just adorning civilian clothes instead of his normal getup. He wore jeans, as normal, though they were significantly more worn at the knees. His chestplate missing was the big thing, its place being filled by a frankly laughable hoodie. It was probably new, since she'd certainly never seen him wear it.

At least, she hoped it was new. It wasn't exactly a bad hoodie, all things considered, but it was still a hoodie.

"Good morning, everyone!" he shouted, getting a cheer from the crowd. Well, most of it. A pair in the corner remained silent. "Thank you all for coming and I hope you enjoy the show."

Jaune closed his eyes, leaning forward on his stool, and began to play. It was a soft tune- growing in pitch and volume gradually as he played a small pattern. Then, with two notes hard notes, it fell away, the tempo shot up to match the chaotic notes themselves.

It took a moment to realize he'd even been singing, but he surely was now, as he shouted a single elongated word- war.

Flames Within (By Jaune - Draco Murdock)

(Somber)

It rains upon our souls today  
That crushing feeling won't go away  
Trapped along the edge of a knife  
Guess I gotta make the most of this life

(Explosive)  
WA-AR!

Watching as all else dies  
You can't escape these lies  
There is no freedom from above  
The battle is all that we love!

LET'S GO-O!

I walk this land with god's hand  
We fight at his command  
Marching across the sand,  
Your death will be first hand!

Surrounded on each end  
All things we must defend  
You stand before me now  
But I will win somehow!

SO FALL-L!

(Somber)

When the blood soaks over me  
I can finally rest in peace  
As my body falls, I grin  
The end I earned will soon begin

The rock elements of that didn't seem to be very well appreciated, but nobody actually booed him as he finished. That was good, given the people who were here, but it still seemed a little odd.

"Any big fans of country music out there?" A few shouts ring out, bringing a smile to Jaune's face. "Yeah. I think country music gets a bad rep, ya know? Why is it that when Moose Springsteen sings about a fucking turnpike, it is "art," and then when someone sings about a horse, it's dumb, inherently. I think some of the greatest songwriters of all time are country artists. Dolly Pardon... Nellie Wilson, ya know? And if you're writing honestly, that is art, and I would never bash that. The problem is with a lot of modern country music, what is called "stadium" country music - the sort of Keith Bourbon brand of country music - is that it is not honest. It is the exact opposite of honest"

Background music kicks in, accompanied by a sudden shift in his voice. His accent wasn't particularly good, but she'd never been to Vacuo either, so it seemed like a fair thing to just let him have. He still didn't lift up his guitar as he started... Singing? It was mostly just spoken into the microphone.

"Where instead of people actually telling their stories, you just got a bunch of millionaire metrosexuals that have never done a hard days work in their lives. But they figured out the words and phrases they can use to pander to their audience, and they list the same words and phrases off, sort of Mad-lib style in every song, raking in millions of dollars from actual working class people. You know the words, you know the phrases. Phrases like..."

Jaune might not know it, but what he was doing was genius. By doing a little of every genre, it's nigh impossible to dislike everything he does, and by not showing favoritism, disliking him as a person becomes more difficult.

Damn him.

Sorry, those thoughts weren't related, but... Damn him.

Almost a week without visiting her, and he was working? She had more money than she could possibly ever use- what the hell was he doing here? If he needed something, he could literally just have a conversation with her about it.

Heck, he'd clearly had the time to write at least one brand new song for a job he didn't need.

She couldn't bring her grievances up now, however, as that would ruin the show. The moment it was done, however, they were gonna have a talk.

For now, she'd just have to put up with it.

Panderin' (By Bo Burnham, the Comedy God, with slight edits to accompany Remnant)

A dirt road  
A cold beer  
A blue jeans  
A red pickup  
A rural noun, simple adjective

No shoes  
No shirt  
No Jews  
You didn't hear that  
Sort of a mental typo

I walk and talk like a field hand  
But the boots I'm wearing cost three grand  
I write songs about riding tractors  
From the comfort of a giant blimp

I could sing in mandarin  
You'd still know I'm pandering  
Hunting deer, chasing trout  
A Bud Might with the logo facing out

Hear that subtle mandolin  
That's textbook pandering  
I own a private ranch that I rarely use  
I don't like dirt

 _[Spoken:]_  
One verse, one chorus in the bag  
Now it's time to talk to the ladies  
I am hoping my Southern charm offsets all these rape-y vibes I'm putting out

Good girl  
In a straw hat  
With her arms out in a corn field  
That is a scarecrow  
Thought that was a human woman, sorry

A cold night  
A cold beer  
A cold jeans  
Strike that last one

I'm wanting you  
I hope you're feeling me  
Subtextually

We go to bed, you doze off  
So I take your country girl clothes off  
I put my hands on your body  
It feels like hay,  
It's a fucking scarecrow again

Like Pike's Evander-ing  
Fuck your ears, I'm pandering  
I write songs for the people who do  
Jobs in the towns that I'd never move to

Legalize gerrymandering  
Tolerate my pandering  
You got a beautiful mouth  
I got a beautiful

You dumb motherfuckers want a key change?

Thematically meandering  
Emphatically pandering  
I got a tight grip on my demo's balls  
Say the word "truck" and they jizz in their overalls

You don't know what land you're in  
I'm in the land of pandering  
And I'll be upfront  
I do what I do 'cause I'm a total fucking cunt-ry boy

It hurt not to laugh. The song wasn't his- he wouldn't write the swears in- but that hardly mattered. The way he'd-

Her thoughts were interrupted by a man slamming his hand onto the table hard enough to break in a portion of the wood. He didn't look to her, but towards Winter, and his eyes were anything but happy.

Well... They kind of were, in a way. They were filled with the combination of smugness and satisfaction that would normally have had a smile on the man's face if he wasn't obviously drunk out of his mind.

"Qrow."

 _Please don't do this, Winter..._

Jaune was already staring in their direction, but at Qrow specifically. The last thing she needed was for him to find her in the crowd AND have her sister cause a scene at the same time.

"Winter," the man grunted, giving a quick glance to the third occupant of the table.

"You're going to do this with an audience?" Winter asked, trying to defuse the situation in her... Irritating way. Logic didn't work on the drunk, and she should know that by now.

"Yes, well..." Qrow leaned forward, as if to tell a secret, but his volume went completely unchanged. "Who wouldn't want to see a man fight a crocodile."

Winter stared him dead in the face, her eyes narrowing as they met his. "I am not going to fight you here, and you would have to pay for anything you break in attacking me."

Qrow sighed, exasperatedly falling back into one of their chairs. "I suppose even you might need to rest your cloven hooves once in a while."

"Calling me the devil, Qrow?" Winter asked, raising an eyebrow smugly. "How original."

"No, no, no..." Qrow mumbled, shaking his head. "I wouldn't want to insult the man downstairs." Winter gnashed her teeth, but in a remarkable show of his lack of self preservation, he continued. "I was calling you a goat." He paused, looking straight at her. "You goat."

If anyone asked, that giant hole in the wall had always been there.

* * *

 **Hoo boy- I get to do another fight, drama, and jokes all in one. It's almost like I'm actually in control of where the story's going!**

 **A lot of people have been making comments about the rushed timeline of the story and, I gotta say, that's not my fault. Volumes 1-3 of RWBY are actually really short in terms of the timeline. The only possible timeskip which could exist is between 1 and 2, and it was clearly the same semester at least. Now exactly a lot of time to work with.**

 **Besides, I suck at writing people being perfectly alright with everything, so... Kinda need to stick to the primary conflicts I've built up. Fret not, however. While this amounts of Vol 1-2, and is only a good 52k words, Vol 3 should be just as long if not longer as we finally introduce what Team RNPR has been up to. Yay!**

 **I have plans. Oh, I have plans. The greatest plans this world has ever scene. Plans so good, they will make all other plans wet their pants.**

 **And goodnight- thank you for the party.**


	14. Cold Shower

**So... The twelve days.**

 **Yeah...**

 **Even with the issues I was having here, specifically THE GOD DAMN FILE REFUSING TO SAVE, and then my computer taking random updates, I still don't think I have an excuse for a delay that long.**

 **I will be on a trip to Leavenworth here soon. In an attempt to make up for this, any free time I get over there will be spent writing the next chapter, so it should be out sometime Sunday or earlier.**

 **On that note, a beta would be incredibly helpful at this point. The editing of these chapters takes almost as long as the writing itself, even though I don't make nearly that many mistakes, because shifting perspective and knowledge is a bitch and a half to work with. Someone to cover at least the practical side of things could probably shave a day or two off the writing process instantly.**

 **I won't be getting one for next chapter, seeing as it will be out too soon for anything, but I'll be looking from then on. If you'd like to help, feel free. Else, you can always read the chapters when they come out.**

 **Tchuss!**

* * *

Qrow rolled to his feet, his alcohol infused brain racing to judge Winter's next strike.

She was fast, as he knew, but predictable with it. Her rapier lashed out of the blurry haze the pulverized wood left behind, but he was just outside its attack. Smiling, he flung one leg out to catch her mid-motion, sending her spinning through the air.

Agile as ever, Winter recovered without a scratch, and simply landed on the side of a building for his efforts. She looked positively furious, and all that rage was directly solely at him. That was how you could tell she cared.

Qrow reached one hand back to grab at his blade, but it came up empty. Far in the distance, inside a hotel room, it sat alone and unloved.

 _Well, this just got a lot more interesting._ Leave it to the booze not to tell him his weapon was halfway across Vale.

Winter rose into a familiar stance, rapier held before her in a slight upward angle. It was defensive. That was odd, especially considering she attacked him. Sure, he may have slightly provoked him, but he could still see the anger in her eyes.

So why wasn't she attacking?

Qrow glanced around. None of the people there seemed to complain- they were just watching. _Might as well give them a show, then._

Dashing forward, he ducked beneath the initial swing of her sword. The second strike met the side of his arm and the blade was handily deflected by his Aura. Leaving no time to make distance, he kept going, and caught a fist into the specialists shoulder.

It didn't do any significant damage, as had been expected, but she still winced slightly as she retreated. Hah. Pain. If there was one advantage of liquid fire coursing through your veins, it numbed all but the most critical of injuries.

"You're fighting like you've never been in a tavern brawl," Qrow smarmed, bobbing around dramatically.

"And you fight like a predictable drunk."

Smiling at her in response, he ran forward again. She swung in retaliation, as expected, and, instead of ducking, Qrow lept over the blade.

His momentum carried him forward, his legs angled to slam into her chest, but she managed to sidestep the move. Perhaps he was becoming a bit predictable... Never let it be said that he didn't learn from his mistake.

Without his weapon, he wasn't going to win on the offense. She likely knew that, but there was always a way around it.

"Look, I can see that you're stressed," Qrow began, lowering his hands. "Why not take a break- head on home- maybe give Cerberus a good petting."

It was an honest surprise that she hadn't cut him off before that.

As she thrust forward, Qrow palmed the blade, deflecting it in a wide arc. Winter's momentum kept her from backing off for just long enough for him to go on the offensive.

"Magical Punch!" he shouted, slamming his foot into her shin. He tried to followup the attack, but a glyph took the actual punch for her. That damn semblance... Seriously, how broken could a power get? It could act as platforms, accelerate her, block attacks, shoot projectiles, and even alter the effects of time. Meanwhile, he literally had the ability to cause misfortune. Gee, perhaps a slight difference there, Oum?

Qrow could only laugh, though, when Winter tripped on a rock and planted her face into the concrete. Hey, at least the worst semblance out there was useful for some slapstick comedy.

She didn't stay down for long, however, and was only enraged by the dust now coating her uniform.

"RAAAAH!"

* * *

Weiss sighed, watching Winter and the drunk individual duke it out. There was clearly some history there that she had no interest delving into, so instead she focused on the third pain in her side.

Jaune attempted to slip away into the crowd, but a firm grip on his collar handily pulled him back.

"Where do you think you're going?"

* * *

Jaune could buy that she got out of the hospital a day early. Her sister, if his guess was right, accompanied her, and she was technically an Atlesian citizen. If she was healthy, she could easily get out.

He could also buy that they went out to get some food first, seeing as hospital food had never been good- even back in Ansel, where everyone had access to cheap pastries.

However, a certain line was crossed in finding him during the show. The odds didn't line up, and he just knew that someone was screwing with him. Hopefully, it wasn't Oum, since there was no way to hold the god accountable.

For now, though, he'd still have to live with the consequences.

"In that general direction," he said weakly, gesturing with his free arm down the road. His other held his guitar case rigidly- a grip that came in handy when he was spun around by Weiss.

"Six days, Jaune," she said, as though it explained everything. It did, too- but she kept going regardless to hammer the point home. "You didn't visit within six days."

Jaune took a deep breath, calming himself as he attempted to come up with an explanation. There was always the truth, he supposed. It would ruin a surprise he'd worked tirelessly for a week to get his hands on, but his relationship with Weiss was definitely worth it.

If you could call it that, anyway.

"I was getting money for a date betw-"

She cut him off. "I'm Weiss Schnee! Just bring up the idea!" Her raised voice brought numerous eyes their way, but were quickly recaptured by the still ongoing fight. In a much quieter tone, she continued. "There was no need to ditch class and work in order to spend time with me- you could have just dropped by." Weiss at Jaune when he raised a hand. "What?"

"I'm not skipping class, Weiss," he said, pointing a thumb behind him towards the school. "They haven't been in session since the missions started."

Weiss blinked, her frustrated expression instantly replaced with a stunned neutrality.

"Excuse me a moment." With those words, spoken in a perfect monotone, she walked off. Jaune watched as she strode with purpose towards the bullhead docks- the ones that would bring her to the school. About halfway there, she turned back and gave him a glare which gave the silent message of 'you're not off the hook.'

Okay, it was a lot more threatening than that, but he preferred the milder version.

 _Better them than me, I suppose._

He'd better get back too- there was that assembly in an hour. However, as he watched her board the bullhead that was already there, he nodded his head. It would probably be better if he took the next one.

* * *

Blake barely looked up from her book when their door slammed open. Such would be rather typical of nearly everyone in school, with only two exceptions beyond herself.

The pale blue eyes she met belonged to one such person, and she did not look happy.

"Hi?" she tried, slowly lowering Ninja's of Love 12 - Electric Boogaloo into her lap.

"Where's Yang?" Weiss demanded, eyes scouring the otherwise vacant room. _Oh, thank Oum, she's not angry at me._

"She's in the sparring arena's right now- probably with Cardin. They've been brawling over the last few days, trying to get his reflexes and durability up." And giving Yang a nice punching bag, but that was left unsaid.

Weiss nodded, her eyes looking off to one side as if she could see through the walls. "Alright. You're coming with me." Blake closed the book without delay, placing it beneath her pillow among 11 and 13. It didn't take a genius to see there was no arguing here, or that her earlier assumption was totally wrong.

Looks like Weiss gets two.

* * *

Cardin smiled as he stared down at his wrists. He'd blocked a punch from Yang Xiao Long- full force- and remained standing.

If Pride wasn't a sin, he'd be feeling pretty proud of himself right now. Unfortunately, even though he totally wasn't feel that way, he happened to take that metaphorical- and in this case quite literal- fall when she simply struck again.

Groaning as he sat up, he looked over at her. Blows from her fist felt like being hit by his mace, and she was certainly faster... If only his semblance was actually helpful. While she got the strength necessary to match him, all he got was recovery- and self recovery, at that. It was convenient, but not powerful, which was something he would really need in the Vytal Festival.

The pain and fatigue of the fight vanished as he stood back up, ready for another go.

They didn't, however, when the entrance to their sparring arena popped open and bright light poured in. His eyes adjusted quickly enough, and the sight caused him to wilt. Yang's partner- Wise?- stormed in with... Man, these people really didn't socialize much. He knew all of RPNR.

Regardless, that was his cue to get out of there. Before the door closed itself, Cardin slipped out into the observation area. Several inches of thick one-way glass separated him from the sparring arena, and he could already hear the conflict start...

Cardin slid into one of the many chairs surrounding the enclosed arena. It was a plush chair, so it gave him a nice, comfortable way to watch the battle unfold- and boy did it ever. Now if only he knew their names...

* * *

Jaune stepped off the bullhead, having thoroughly emptied the contents of his stomach, to an unusual sight. Everyone, or at least a large number of people were making their way towards the sparring arenas. There were only two good ones and only around eight smaller rooms, so there was no possible way they thought they could all use it.

Classes were out, so it wasn't Glynda either... Was some spectacular fight going on?

Well, obviously, but he was more worried about who it was. Knowing Weiss, she probably wouldn't have taken Yang or Blake to a sparring arena- she'd have just launched them out the window into the Emerald Forest and thrown down there.

He would know- that was a very painful memory even now.

Jaune shrugged off the past. Better to never relive that day and instead focus on what lay ahead- the fight, specifically. Following the motion of the crowd, he slipped into one of the larger two arenas. Seats surrounded the dome, a large number filled in a seemingly random order, except for a small area that was almost completely vacant.

The answer became pretty clear when the sole occupant burst out laughing again- it was Cardin. Jaune sighed, plopping down nearby, if not next to him. At least it had a good view of the-

Words failed him as he finally looked at the match itself. The dome darkened the arena, making it difficult to tell from a distance exactly what was happening without proper lighting. Gunshots from a familiar sounding shotgun gauntlet provided just that, along with the glyphs which were rapidly springing up within the whole of the battleground. Blake was there, too, it seemed, but her actions were more flashy in the finesse sense that the literal one. She took advantage of the glyphs, which acted as platforms despite Weiss' apparent wishes, to fly around the battlefield and take nicks out of Weiss' aura.

She wasn't the main attraction, as effective as the strategy seemed to be. Yang punching her way through endless attacks and Weiss slowly drove her back with spikes of ice, on the other hand? Yang hardly struggled against anyone but Pyrhha in sparring, and she was easily able to deal with Cardin's entire team by herself. The fact that Weiss had her constantly on the defensive...

It was terrifying, and in more ways than one. When they sparred, Weiss hardly used her dust abilities. She stuck with glyphs, using them to simulate terrain and empower her movements. Here, they were acting as far more, and he could see the stress having so many out was putting on her.

Not by any clever deductions, mind you. Her aura was literally dropping a percent or two every few seconds from the strain of it- beyond the attacks from Blake. Without Glynda to call the match, and the only public display of their aura levels outside the dome, it was only a matter of time before-

Weiss' aura entered the red, even as she stuck to the offensive. Her anger- the justified rage that should have been directed at him- would lead to her own injury.

Jaune lept from his seat, racing down the aisle to the stage. He bumped into a few people along the way, but payed them no mind as he climbed atop the stage. They didn't slow him down, at any rate.

Yang sprung forward, attempting yet another counterattack. Weiss matched it, conjuring yet another in a seemingly uncountable number of ice spikes. This time, however, it was different. It was shaped in a new way, with grooves cut into it to match that of a drill.

Whether they said anything, he didn't know. Yang roared- he could see it in the way her mouth shot open as she dove forward, but he didn't hear it. He couldn't, really, as he planted himself directly between them.

"Enough!" he shouted, though the words had little effect on momentum. Yang attempted to slow down- to duck away- but she'd already committed. Similarly, Weiss' shock prevented her from reacting in time.

Jaune closed his eyes, bracing for the pair of blows to come.

Both attacks came in full force- a fist driving into his chest while ice tore a hole through the back of his shirt with ease.

But that was it.

He blinked, and he wasn't the only one confused either. Yang glanced intermittently between her fist and him, wondering what had happened. Cardin had been able to bend him forward with what, to him, was probably a casual pat on the back, yet he'd just been unaffected by Yang and Weiss attacking in unison.

A moment passed in complete silence, though that was probably just him blanking on the world for the crowd was already in an uproar the next second.

"How did you do that!?" several voices cried, including two from within the stage. Jaune struggled to come up with an answer, eventually just giving them a lost shrug.

"I just... Did it." There wasn't really another way to describe it. He'd done the impossible, again. "Would that be part of my semblance?" he asked, remembering their conversation from before.

Weiss nodded, slowly, Yang just looked on in silence. Eventually, her face contorted into an angry snarl. "Man- this is bullshit! How broken a semblance does this dude get!?"

She... She did realize they were on the same side, right? That's like complaining that your cleric is 'too good' at healing. Even beyond that, it was still a nightmare to try and figure out what his semblance actually was.

It had to do with him ignoring damage, apparently.

 _Actually,_ he sighed, looking at his scroll, _I guess it doesn't._ His aura was down, a lot. About 1/3 of it was just gone, which was a lot considering how large his reserves were. However, he felt nothing. No pain, no weakness, and no lack of aura either.

It was... Odd, to say the least. He hadn't exactly gotten used to those problems in the short time he had aura either, but they were at least more typical than just feeling fine with a good chunk of your soul missing.

This... Was something to look into. It could become a problem later. Of course, he'd rather not do all of this in front of nearly the entire student body. He couldn't see them, since the dome hadn't been dispelled yet, but he could still vaguely sense eye locked onto him. A particular pair seemed to be drilling into him, but it was impossible to identify the place of origin.

"Can we take this elsewhere?" he asked, turning back to them. They all vaguely nodded, and so they left.

* * *

Cardin barely managed to restrain himself from laughing out a lung as he watched Jaune leap into the fray. He seemed so sure of himself as he sprinted in, but he couldn't even jump up to the level of the stage. _Come on, what's he gonna-_

The ice shattered against his back and Yang's strike, barreling directly into his chest, didn't so much as disturb his balance.

Wood snapped as Cardin crushed his armrest within his hand. He spared a glance down to the damage, but settled on ignoring it. He had bigger problems. Jaune was tough- he'd proven that much when he'd taken that blow from the Ursa back in Forever Fall- but he'd still been thrown back into a tree.

Now, he didn't even seem affected by someone who beat him around the floor.

Cardin paused, taking a deep breath. Even if he was angry, he owed Jaune for a lot, his life being the most obvious. Sure, he'd gone and returned the favor, but that had also led to his training with Yang.

Getting upset wouldn't help him. His expression relaxed, somewhat, as he watched them all leave the stage. If he was to have any chance in the Vytal Festival, he would need to at least best Jaune in the future.

His eyes shifted from the stage to the people in the audience, and then back again. He needed to get stronger right?

 _This is gonna be a long hour._

* * *

Weiss, having gotten her initial rush of anger out, sat on her bed with an almost bored expression. Blake and Yang sat opposite her, on another, while Jaune took up a chair set between them.

Her first day out of the hospital, and shit had already gone down. Why couldn't reality just give her a break? Actually, she knew why, and he was sitting in a wooden chair beside her right now.

"We'll just go in a circle. Jaune," she said, pointedly staring at the man in question, "you can go first."

He nodded, taking a moment to gather his thoughts. Then, he looked up at her, and said two simple words.

"I'm sorry."

Simple though they may be, Weiss smiled, and turned to the other two.

"Wait, he gets off that easily!?" Yang shouted, and the sentiment seemed to be mirrored in Blake's expression. Weiss only smiled wider at that, keeping the fact that he'd still be paying for it later.

In a more literal sense. He did say he was getting money for a date, after all. There were plenty of opportunities to get him back then, assuming she felt like it. Hey, one day left before the festival. Might as well enjoy it.

"So," Weiss began, completely ignoring Yang's question. "What's this I hear about school being out all week?"

That seemed to put an end to her complaining, and her eyes even trailed over to Jaune who instinctively scooted back somewhat. Was he that obvious? How he got into this school, even with fake transcripts, was a mystery.

Regardless, he was here, and she was willing to let his whimpering in the corner go for the moment as she returned her attention to Yang. Blake, at least, had shown a modicum of guilt when she arrived, so it only seemed fair to get the same from her.

"

* * *

"Greetings, students," Oobleck said as he zipped through the side door. The clock on the wall noted that he was right on time. Taking a brief moment to clear his throat, he began to give his speech. "I am going to be leaving soon on a followup expedition to Jericho Falls. Last time we were there, we found what appears to be a story of the origin of Grimm, but we were chased off by those very creatures before we could decipher it. This time, a smaller elite group is heading out, and therefore you will not be seeing me or Ozpin around for a few days. Port wished to come with, but he is needed to commentate for the Vytal festival."

That was the official reason, but it was more the very real possibility that he would intentionally rile up every Grimm in a twenty mile radius.

"We will be back around the time the team matches are over and will be using the interim to publicly disclose the results." Hopefully they'd actual hit something this time. The last ruins, a place called Murlock, had only contained fables. Murlock had, however, no real Grimm presence, and this place did. Maybe that meant something.

For now, though, his speculations would have to take place elsewhere, for Ozpin also had some words.

"Students- warriors- and future huntsman," he began, even before he approached the mic. His voice carried well, and it was doubtful that anyone missed it. "When you all joined this academy, I told you of what I thought- that you were all undirected and in need of guidance. Though your time here may be young, I have bore witness to incredible improvement in each of you. Your skills will be tested in the Vytal festival, and the world beyond this schools doors will do the same many times over, but this is still a time to celebrate the ending of the Great War of long ago."

"Four years prior, I told the war's tale on the day the festival started. As mentioned before, I will be indisposed this year, and will be unable to do this job. As such, I implore each of you to spend at least a piece of your free time researching the history of this world. Those who do not learn from the mistakes of history are doomed to repeat them, and I do not wish to see these nations clash once more. I was but a child, then, but I can remember the bloodshed, and also the brutality of the faunus rights war that followed. The world now is peaceful, and I'm sure you would all like to keep it that way."

Ozpin stopped, gazing out into the crowd with a cautious gaze. Eventually, however, his expression softened into a smile.

"Show them who's boss."

The roar of the crowd was impressive. Leave it to Ozpin to do something like that- the showoff. He normally kept it behind closed doors, though it was reasonable for him to want a show to return to once the mission was complete.

Hell, even Oobleck had to admit to enjoying a fine bout once in a while. Scholar he may be, there was something exhilarating about the sport.

Oobleck watched on as the noise of the crowd died down. It took a while- the enthusiasm of the students physically shaking the stage- but it happened. Ozpin waded through the storm with gentle grace of a man used to it, and when they eventually quieted, he spoke.

"Dismissed!"

* * *

 **There is a piece of next chapter down below. I wrote it from Roman's perspective, and I was wondering if I should keep it like that or let Neo take the reigns. My biggest issue is that I don't want to ruin the mystique of how she thinks or acts by making her a Point of View Character.**

 **On that note, please message me or review telling me whether you'd like this in its current state or from Neo's POV.**

 **In the meantime, have some shenaniganary.**

* * *

Roman sighed, flicking his last cigar to the ground. If all went well, he could restock tomorrow, but he didn't get to where he was by assuming everything would go exactly according to play. _No plan survives contact with the enemy,_ he remembered from his last meeting with Cinder. Boy hadn't that been a wonderful experience.

Actually, since it was over a scroll, it was probably the best conversation the two of them had since meeting. Of course, that's not exactly setting a very high bar.

One of the faunus walked up to him with a brief report- the bombs were all loaded. Good- they were all prepared for the following day.

He patted Neo's head, noting the anticipation in her eyes. If all went well, their role in Cinder's plans would be over.

However, that very fact is what brought a modicum of fear into his own. Cinder could get what she wanted within the next twenty-four hours, and there was no way he could fight her off if he was trapped in Vale. He would be a disposable pawn who knew too much.

His eyes roved from Neo, who smiled up at him, to the train, and back again. Cinder had a contingency- she always did- for if this plan failed. He couldn't exactly sabotage his own operation, since she'd know, and he'd get roasted for it.

Nobody should have been in Mountain Glenn, either, so it's not like Red or that crazy cat lady were going to drop by and stop this fiasco from happening.

The train would arrive, Vale would fall, and the Grimm would overtake Beacon with the help of the White Fang. Everything was so well planned it almost hurt to know that he'd probably die shortly after it happened.

 _Well,_ he thought, looking down at Neo, whose smile had fallen, _I don't technically have to be on the train._

So long as the plan succeeded and he wasn't in Vale, he would be safe. If it failed, he'd simply have to come back and get arrested by someone from Atlas for the contingency.

"You ever been to Vacuo?" he asked, looking down at his multicolored little hellspawn.


	15. Hail Mary

**"Golly gee gosh," Draco mused as he looked down at his computer, "I should probably get to work."**

 ***Twelve years later***

 **"Yes! I have written the authors note!"**

 **All jokes aside, I had actually written a good half of this over the trip. The other half... Well, I did say it might not be out quite then...**

 **Turns out, the German Club had a lot of outings planned, one of which included an hour and a half hike. Doesn't sound bad, even to me, but it lasted well over four hours- not counting the time spend driving to and from.**

 **Mein Gott, it was unbearable. People stopping every twelve meters for selfies, people checking every offshoot because 'it might be the right way', and just wasting time in general...**

 **Fortunately, I was able to procrastinate sleep for several hours to write 2000 words, so I can still get it out only a day off. Sure, it's Tuesday, and I originally said Monday, but that was actually a completely different mistake.**

 **See, I finished this last night, and then... Well, I passed out before publishing it. Whoops? At least you get the new chapter semi-on time.**

 **Huray!**

 **Ugh...**

 **Anyway, I'm looking for adult huntsman OC's for the trip to Jericho. I need 6 people, but 2 are already taken, and I have an OC of my own to add. That leaves 3. Feel free to post your own- but don't worry about it. I have more I _could_ put in, I'd just like to give some spotlight to anyone who wants it.**

 **In the meantime, I better get this thing out before I get honey badgers thrown through my window. Tchuss!**

* * *

"Yo, General," Qrow said with a wave as he entered Ozpin's office. Winter and Glynda were there as well, and he gave a nod in greeting to the latter.

"Qrow," James grunted before turning back to Glynda. "As I was saying, we have a serious security problem here. The robberies in Vale have ceased, and I can only think it's because they've grabbed what they needed for something big."

Glynda nodded to herself in that way that masked more complex thoughts. She was actually a lot less subtle than many thought, but you had to know what to look for. "Do you know how much they have?"

James frowned, giving Winter a glance out of the corner of his eye, before answering. "sixty-eight tons."

Even Qrows eyes widened at that. A fraction of that could arm a nation, so what could they possibly need that much for? Not for selling, certainly. Dust was a hot item, so the black market would have difficulty absorbing anything close to that much Dust.

Which means they intended to use all of it, and wasn't that a frightening thought?

"What do you propose we do about this, James?" Glynda asked, giving him a sidelong stare. "Ozpin isn't here right now."

The general didn't have an answer on hand, but, after a moments deliberation, he looked out towards the window to where his personal flagship stood over Vale. "Obviously, we double down. We find the warehouses necessary to store it, and take them out."

Qrow nodded to that, at least tentatively, and the notion seemed favorable to everyone else. It was certainly better than what he'd expected- the suggestion to bring in an army. Atlas wasn't exactly known for being subtle in its endeavors.

James seemed to catch his gaze, and so turned to Qrow. "Acting rashly, when we still don't know what they're doing, might lead to problems. We need to figure out if they're threatening us, first."

Quite logical, and therefore all the more suspicious from him, but that was for another day. Qrows personal gripes aside, he was actually right.

"That's settled, then," Glynda interrupted. "Qrow, I'll be leaving the warehouse discovery to you, for now." A nod, and Glynda turned back to Ironwood. "I do believe there was one other thing we had to deal with, correct? Something about yesterday." That question caused James to inhale sharply before turning to Qrow and Winter. It didn't take him being sober to figure out what they were referring to.

So, if it wasn't needed, he might as well not be.

While Winter was given a dressing down by James, and boy wasn't that a horrifying thought, he took a swig of his flask. Glynda stared at him, but he brushed it off, instead glancing out one of the innumerable windows.

The city was smoking.

Metal crashed to the floor, spilling drink to the ground and instantly stealing everyones attention. They followed his gaze, looking out over Vale themselves, and the room was overtaken by silence.

* * *

Jaune tugged at his collar futilely. As uncomfortable as the shirt made him, it was necessary to look his best when in public with a Schnee. Even if he didn't personally care, and she expressed that she didn't either, she- unlike him- did have a reputation to maintain.

To that end, he stood in the courtyard in a completely new outfit. Based on Atlesian design, it consisted of white slacks with a grey stripe on either side, a grey belt with the Beacon insignia in the middle, a dress shirt with large pseudo-gold buttons, and an long streaming jacket of similar make to what he'd seen Weiss' sister wearing the day prior.

It was actually a rush job, all things considered. If he had more time, he'd have gotten a different belt and a jacket that didn't have the Schnee logo on its cuffs. Unfortunately, there were limits to what you could get your hands on without going into Vale.

That's not to say he wasn't proud of the getup. Paired with some weighty boots, he actually cut a rather impressive figure, and his well kempt mane gave him an air of nobility.

Well, it would if he knew how to actually act. No doubt he would be getting a few lectures on etiquette from Weiss, but... It was her right, in a way. He was going out with someone who was as close to royalty as you could get in the modern era, so of course there would be work involved.

Footsteps off to the side caught his attention. There were plenty of students around here- most of them staring at him or basking in the midmorning sun- but this one was familiar; it was the sound of heels.

"Weiss," Jaune began, before the rest of his words caught in his throat- and no, that wasn't because of the tight collar. Much like him, she'd certainly dressed for the occasion. Where to even start?

She had eschewed the combat skirt she was known for in favor of a more elaborate dress. She moved gracefully, despite the obviously restrictive clothing, and the heels tapped rhythmically as he strode up to him.

Her hair was down, much like it was when she was slept, but she didn't leave it at that. Pristine white bands, with purple lines sketching decorative lines into them, held two locks of hair in front of her shoulders. The only thing that looked even slightly out of place on her outfit was Myrtenaster, which clung to her hip and bobbed up and down with each step.

To summarize, she was beautiful.

"Jaune," she greeted, apparently mistaking his stunned silence as an invitation to speak. Or, he thought so, but then she flashed him a knowing smile. "Shall we be off?"

Shaking his head, Jaune met her pale blue eyes. "Of course."

Taking her hand in his, he walked her towards the bullhead docks. She made to climb into one, but was stopped by their linked elbows.

"Follow me." Their hands fell away as Jaune broke into a run. The sound of boots on gravel matched that of hardened glass as they approached the cliff edge. No bullhead remained near, and Weiss looked at him with a raise eyebrow. Jaune smiled, turning back to her, and placing one finger over his mouth.

And then he fell backwards off the cliff.

"Jaune!" a voice screamed after him, but Jaune just laughed up at her as his back impacted the roof of their ride.

A private ship- just for the day. Easily his biggest expense, but oh so worth it. Especially when the pilot, Kordigan, had agreed to this prank.

Oh, he'd pay for it later- the prank, obviously; he'd already payed for the bullhead- but it was so satisfying to see the look on her face. "Come on," he shouted as he got up to his feet, "we haven't got all day!"

Weiss looked at him in as neutral an expression as she could manage.

Then, she laughed. It didn't last long, as she composed herself a moment later, but her amusement was still visible in the smirk adorning her face. "Alright, big man," she said, taking a moment to jump up to the roof with him. "What's the plan?"

Jaune smiled at the rhyme, but kept it to himself as he looked out over Vale. "The sky's the limit- literally, in our case." Through his periphery, Jaune could see Weiss shaking her head, but her lips remained curved upwards as she looked back up at him. "How's your landing strategy?"

That _did_ kill her smile as she looked at him quizzically. "It's fine- I just use my glyphs to slow myself down- but I thought you didn't have one, back in initiation."

"I didn't," Jaune admitted, turning back to face her. "Today, however..." he trailed off as he gestured to the ship. "We happen to have parachutes."

She couldn't exactly lean over the edge of the roof to see inside, but she accepted that they were inside without difficulty. Instead, she just deadpanned at him.

"You want to go skydiving?"

 _Yes and no,_ Jaune thought as the bullhead came away from the cliff and began to ascend. What he wanted was similar to skydiving, but not quite the same. People bond really well in scary situations- something they'd been experiencing in terrifying quantities as of late- but there was no reason they couldn't handle a little more.

He didn't want to say what they were doing quite yet, so instead he winked at her and climbed through the open doors of the bullhead. A metallic clang rung out to announce his arrival, and a near identical sound follow a moment later as Weiss descended.

True to his word, a pair of parachutes rested beside the cockpit door. They were bland brown bags, only identified by the cord on either side which they would pull when they fell.

"So," Jaune began, picking both of theirs up, "have you ever heard of Banzai-diving?"

Weiss' brow furrowed, and she stared directly at him, but no words escaped her.

"Guess you're going to find out."

 _"We're at altitude,"_ the voice of the pilot rang out. _"You are cleared for exit."_

And with that, Jaune threw the parachutes out of the bullhead.

* * *

Weiss just kind of blinked as Jaune threw the parachutes out the bullhead doors. They'd still be able to get down, whether with her glyphs or the ship itself, but... Why would he-?

If it were possible for her expression to blank more than it already had, it would have when Jaune lept out the door too.

Without thinking, she lept after him, a glyph conjuring atop her upturned feet to propel her downward.

Wind rolled around her, the crisp air feeling only colder with the speed with which it flowed. Despite the initial panic, her mind quickly filled in the blanks and realized what was going on. He was still an idiot, but a well meaning idiot.

The two of them were meant to fall, for a while, and grab the parachutes on the way down. With her semblance, it wouldn't even be hard, since she could just manipulate their speeds on a whim.

Hell, she could just catch them up in the sky for a while.

Smiling to herself, she did just that, summoning a glyph beneath both packs and grabbing him in the process. He seemed slightly surprised by the circle of white spreading open beneath him, but reacted well enough to land without injury.

So there they were, standing above the clouds.

Weiss took a quick look around. They were high in the air- probably near the limit of where a bullhead could go when they fell- and the ground spread out before them. Despite the distance, she could actually see the northern sea which lead to Atlas, and Beacon was still visible beneath them- the city of Vale along with it.

However, despite their size, they were tiny compared to the horizon, and even that paled to the figure standing beside her.

Despite herself, Weiss smiled and wrapped an arm around his shoulder. "Worth it?"

"Worth it," he agreed, mirroring her grip as they stared into the middle distance.

Only for a plume of smoke to get in the way.

* * *

Roman groaned as he hauled himself out of the wreckage. As durable as he and many others were, an impact like that would knock anyone's senses loose.

Well, with one notable exception, but she was still standing by and waiting for his signal. At any instant, he could be pulled out and teleported to some distant land- never to be heard from again.

Unfortunately, that option was looking very unappealing, especially with Emerald and Mercury at the scene. Cinder herself was absent, but as the Grimm poured in through the hole in the ground, he saw an unfortunate few get snapped in half by Her pawns.

Dammit... Now would have been the perfect time to fake his death, but to lie down here would just lead to a real one, and there's no way she'd believe he just vanished.

A quick glance in all directions confirmed that the mission as a whole had at least been a success. With any luck, his disposal would at least be painless. For now, though, he was still bound to the contingency plan.

Civilians were slaughtered by the claws of monsters they'd never seen and hunters battled back the oncoming tide with difficulty. No eyes were on him.

 _Perfect,_ he thought as he lept up to a nearby rooftop. Neo, ever happy to see him, gave him a hug upon arrival.

"We need to stay nearby, but if I'm shown to be in mortal danger, I want you and me in Vacuo." She nodded her concent and smiled, but it seemed weak. Perhaps the thought of what might happen had her on edge too...

Roman reached into his inner pocket and sighed. Right- the animals didn't smoke, so he didn't have any cigars at Mountain Glenn.

As if reading his thought, Neo held one up in the air between two fingers.

"Neo..." he said, looking into her mismatched eyes. "Can I have that?"

She smiled, again, but this one was more genuine. One raised and one lowered eyebrow silently conveyed a message he had seen many times before. Specifically, 'what are you going to give me?'

Most of the time, it was ice cream, but he didn't exactly have any of that on him... Hm...

A quick scan of the breach site- specifically the buildings that weren't being torn down- revealed a number of empty stores. It wasn't until his eyes passed over a Cold Rock Creamery that they stopped, though.

"Neopolitan," he said, though he knew she understood the intent because she nodded. _The things I do for you._

So, for the sake of some ice cream, he lept into the army of oncoming Grimm.

* * *

Qrow batted aside the claws of a Beowulf easily, following it up with a slash across its chest before the beast could even react. More soon followed, met with the same fate as he swung his blade around in broad arcs.

So many Grimm in the middle of Vale... It didn't seem possible. The Grimm weren't coming through or over the walls- but somehow appearing in the town square. The only thing he could think of were the tunnels from Mountain Glenn.

But how?

That question lingered as he tossed an Ursa into the air, the monstrous bear-like creature crashing atop a few of its comrades. The tunnels were sealed on all sides, meaning Grimm couldn't just wander in and get near Vale.

Someone led them here.

A Nevermore collapsed atop a ruined building, its left wing torn off from one of Qrow's bullets. Several more followed as he charged towards the center of town.

Figuring out how and why this happened would need to wait. If someone didn't stop them at the source, they'd simply overrun all of Vale and the why would be lost to history anyway.

Slashing throw a pair of Ursae, Qrow bolted across the cobbled stones. The town square, or what remained of it, spread out before him- Grimm pouring out throw a hole where a fountain used to be.

Even given a mere second, he could figure out part of the problem: the hole was just too big. The train- for there could be no doubt as to what that mangled box of metal used to be, given where it came from- punched a hole as large as its tunnel into the middle of Vale.

Beowulfs, Ursae, and Creep surged through while the negativity of the rampage brought Nevermore from over the walls. Those nearby did their best to fight, but the sheer numbers seemed to be pressuring them...

His eyes caught onto a distant flash of white. Winter? She'd be able to plug the hole, certainly, and anything the Grimm dug out would be smaller and easier to deal with...

He saw her again, but had to blink from who it was- not Winter, certainly. Her sister, probably... Damn. She'd still work, at least for this, but...

Where the hell was Winter at a time like this!?

* * *

"General... Should I not be out there, defending Vale?"

"Normally, I would say yes," Ironwood said, though he didn't bother to slow down.

Winter marched after him, keeping pace with the taller man easily. "So why am I not?" Her tone was calm, as it should be when addressing her superior, but he seemed to note the rebellion regardless.

He didn't comment on it, however, and instead grunted in her general direction.

She still had no idea where the general was leading her. It was somewhere under Beacon, as they'd taken a long elevator, but the destination itself remained unclear.

All she could really glean from the environment is how important it was. A massive hall, easily forty feet tall, led directly from an elevator which was hidden directly within the outer wall of Ozpin's clocktower.

If that wasn't suspicious enough as it was, the machine she saw on the far wall certainly was.

"What are we doing here?" She hadn't mean to snap, but he would be asking a tad much to ignore the clearly injured woman inside of one of two identical glass tubes or the way he had cryptically described this as 'Ozpin's worst mistake.'

Ironwood paused, turning to her and back the machine. As he did, he kept moving, and so she did as well.

When he reached the strange device, however, he finally answered.

"Magic is real, Winter."

The declaration raised on of her eyebrows, but not out of surprise. Unending monsters and souls existed, so it wasn't exactly a stretch that the arcane did too. Instead, her eyebrow was raised at him in general. She had a number of questions, but it wasn't her place to ask them.

Fortunately, he was willing to answer her concerns on his own.

"Long ago, a powerful wizard divested his power into four people who later become known as maidens." He paused, turning back towards the door defensively. Winter turned, but didn't sense anything. Apparently content with just keeping watch, he continued. "When they die, their power is transferred to whoever is on their mind. Too often, however, that is their killer."

 _Oh..._ That was a terrible way to handle power like that. Hell- randomness would have been better.

It wasn't her place to judge, though, so she kept listening.

"The woman here is one such maiden- the fall maiden specifically. Someone is hunting her down, and I believe she is behind the attack on Vale."

A look of realization crossed her face as she looked between the maiden and the only exit. Then, eventually, the settled on Ironwood. "Why wouldn't Ozpin want this power transferred immediately? I can tell she's in a coma from here!"

"That's why I call it his mistake," Ironwood sighed, looking down for a moment. "Fortunately, we have a chance to fix his error. He might not have chosen you, but he's not here now. Please, get in the machine."

As if on cue, the empty tube's hatch swung open, allowing entrance. Winter gave him a conflicted look before steeling her mind. There was no time for doubt. If this power was going to be given to her, than all the better once they finally got out to Vale.

"I'll keep watch," he assured her as he closed the door. The words themselves were reassuring, but the implications were starkly less so. Nevertheless, she remained still as Ironwood repeatedly typed onto a keyboard beside the machine.

Winter's eyes flicked up to movement- years of military training honing her instincts for just this sort of thing. She slammed on the glass- more than enough signal for Ironwood.

With a final press on the keyboard, the machine activated, and he turned to the assailant.

The woman- completely unknown to her- had already notched an arrow in their direction. It fired- shooting forward at blazing speed.

Only to deflect off of Ironwood's arm uselessly.

"I'm your opponent!" he shouted, and sprinted into battle.

* * *

 **Ah, a change in the maiden- fun times. So, admittedly, Jericho never happened in RWBY, so Ozpin should technically be here to call in Pyrhha.**

 **Except screw that- I don't care. I'm gonna have my cake, eat it too, and give it to someone else all at once and the universe can go chogabit. For those unfamiliar, that is an old abbreviation of "Choke a bitch."**

 **I just horribly dated myself, didn't I?**

 **Ah well, I don't care- just like you won't once I unveil who the Summer maiden is.**

 **It's Zwei.**

 **That's right- Zwei is a girl. DUN DUN DUUUUUUUUN!**

 **For real, though, what the hell is up with the characters of RWBY? Literally every single one of the main four might as well be royalty. Weiss and Blake are rather obvious, but even Yang and Ruby are the children of the transcendental wizards chosen two. Like, seriously? And the name- Summer- it just screams Maiden.**

 **As does Winter, but eh... To be honest, she's at least present enough to deserve a chance for it.**

 **Or, in this case, actually getting it! Yay!**


	16. Winter Soldier

**Recently, someone told me that Cinder } Pyrrha.**

 **I had to correct them. Obviously Cinder ))-} Pyrrha.**

 **You're welcome.**

* * *

Jaune slammed heavily into the ground, crushing a Beowulf beneath his feet. Behind him, his parachute drifted down- having been abandoned to save on time.

His eyes scanned the area, making note of the only source of Grimm- the hole in the ground.

Unfortunately, it was massive, and a wide variety of beasties, as Port would call them, streamed outwards. A King Taijitu leveled a building off to the side while a number of students were holding off a torrent of Ursae rushing towards a mall.

Nobody he could recognize as a professional appeared, causing a knot to form in Jaune's stomach. The timing was just terrible, with many of the skilled huntsman out on missions still, and the students who had returned needing to resupply.

Jaune grimaced, a hand falling to his hip, only for Crocea Mors to be absent.

 _Of course- I didn't want to take a weapon to a date._

Now he wished he had. At least Weiss, who had just landed beside him, had hers. She could handle herself, at least for a while.

An Ursa roared behind them, and promptly regretted making its presence known. Jaune whirled around, slamming his fist into the Grimms snout. The blow left it staggering, for a moment, and that was all Weiss needed to impale it with her rapier.

Perhaps he didn't need his weapon- it wasn't like he was particularly good with it anyway.

His coat fell aside as Jaune dashed into the fray, shouting at the Grimm. Many ignored him, rushing elsewhere, but many red eyes focused on him.

White energy flared around him, his aura coming alight as he moved, and the world seemed to grow silent. He didn't hear, but he did see, them snarl in recognition.

And then they charged, matching his pace and aggression.

Jaune struck first, ducking below a Beowulf's swipe before flicking his head up into its jaw. The blow sent it reeling backwards, but its fall was stayed as Jaune grabbed some of the fur on its chest.

An angry yelp escaped it as Jaune swung it around, slamming the Grimm into its fellows. Collapsed atop one another, they were quickly dealt with by a spear of ice shooting through their ribs.

Pain surged through his arm as Jaune looked to his right, noting a set of Ursa claws digging into his shirt. Jaune growled inaudibly as he reached an arm up to grip its paw.

The Ursa was considerably heavier than the Beowulf, so his pull barely made it step forward, but that wasn't the goal. Using his leverage, Jaune threw himself upwards and onto the creatures back.

A smile actually grew on his face at the bone-like protrusions that he saw. He couldn't wrestle an Ursa, but there were always other options.

His hands took hold of one, near the top, and pulled back. With a sickening lurch, it came loose, and the Ursa promptly threw him off.

 _That's fine,_ Jaune thought as he felt the weight of the spike in his hand. _I got what I needed._

Jaune dashed in again, skewering it easily.

It fell, crashing into the ground heavily, but Jaune was already off. There were so many here, and only more coming, so there was no chance to rest.

A flash of orange caught his eye- along with the white he'd normally have admired.

 _Torchwick..._

It didn't take a genius to figure out that he was involved somehow, but there were bigger problems. Even if he'd grown strong enough to battle Torchwick, he clearly wasn't the main threat here.

They needed to plug that hole...

Jaune's eyes widened as he swung his head around, looking around for Weiss. She could-

A grunt escaped him as a Beowulf doomed itself. It's claws dug into the back of his shirt, but he couldn't be bothered to care about the outfit right now. Jaune's hands came up, gripping the inside of its upper and lower jaw, and wrenching it open. Then, for good measure, he stretched it another few feet.

Literally defanged, it fell back, giving him the room to look aga-

One huge pincer wrapped itself around his chest, breaking itself as it tried to crush him in one motion, but still trapping him inside the Deathstalkers grasp. Jaune growled, the guttural sound absent to his ears as he snapped it in half.

The Grimm weren't gonna let him find her, so they'd simply have to die first.

* * *

Weiss' eyes narrowed- not towards the Grimm, which were mere obstacles in her path, but towards someone she'd seen before.

Qrow, Winter had called him. He wasn't drunk this time, and was actively cleaving through the hoard in her direction. She might have guessed it was chance if not for his eyes meeting hers.

"What do you want," she mouthed, but he didn't respond. It was complicated, then...

Sighing, Weiss pulled away from the Beowulf that had tried to gut her, and instead moved towards a ruined building.

The location itself wasn't particularly safe, but it was at least empty, which took them out of the deafening hail of bullets, roars, and the odd dying scream. It was cruel, but a definite reality that people were dying, and- if nothing else- the man seemed to realize that too, for he wasted no time explaining himself.

"I need your help."

Okay, not the first thing she expected to hear from the man. Despite her reservations about him, he had kept up with Winter while drunk off his ass, so he should be well out of her league while sober.

Still, it was intriguing, so she merely gestured for him to continue.

"While I hold the Grimm off, you create a giant iceberg and drop it into the hole." It wasn't a plea, or even a request, but Weiss still nodded in agreement. Everyone should have seen the problem here, and it didn't take a genius to figure out what a literal ton of ice could do to their golden ticket.

"Let's do this."

* * *

"I'm your opponent!" James roared as he stepped in her way. The arrow he blocked ricocheted into the air, disintegrating before it fell to the ground.

Another arrow appeared within her hands as if from nothing and she pulled it back to fire again. She wasn't allowed to, however, as a bullet from his pistol split the bow in half. Much like the arrow, it fell to dust in her hands, but that barely caused her to glower at him.

He didn't give her a chance to properly respond, however, as he dashed forward, gun in hand, to engage her in melee. The goal wasn't to win- she could probably beat him if the fight went on long enough- but rather to stall. While Anima had never been clear as to how long the machine would take, the madman implied it was only a brief period.

Hopefully he was right.

Either way, as she attempted to circle around him, James simply placed himself between her and Amber. She had made her target clear with the first shot, and even with no bow in hand, she was undoubtedly lethal.

As if on cue, flames erupted around her body, accompanied by a harsh red glow emanating from her dress. The heat forced him a step back, leaving him out of melee range, but he still raised his gun up to her chest and fired.

She took it easily, not even a scratch adorning her skin from the impact. A smile formed at her face as she looked at him for a moment.

Ironwood threw himself to the right, ducking into a roll that brought him back up to his feet. The orange geyser passed by where he was a moment prior, and the heat flowing off of it was absurd. Even as it faded, scorched air replaced the normally dank smell of the underground chamber.

He didn't dwell on that, however. There wasn't time to. Instead, he lunged forward, closing the distance between the two before she could blast out again.

She didn't have to, apparently, as a pair of crimson daggers coalesced in her hands. They blocked his right arm with a metallic ring, and he could see damage on both.

His arm wasn't something he could exactly repair in the middle of battle, though.

Growling to himself, James forced his arm downward. The blades were pushed aside, the strength holding them up breaking under the pressure, and he used the opportunity to throw his other arm forward.

It didn't hit her, however. It paused, just before slamming into her face, and for good reason.

James lept backwards and she erupted into flames once more, a glistening barrier of dull orange forming atop her skin. Though she showed no signs of pain, with the temperature her fire held, it would certainly have been enough to scar his hand.

This fight was horribly one sided. He had the advantage in strength and, if their last scuffle showed anything, raw speed as well, but her reflexes and flames nullified both of those advantages...

His eyes flicked to the pillars that stood throughout the room. They could resist the heat, but she was undoubtedly fast enough to evade, and maybe even strong enough to cut her way through. Even then, take out too many, and the ceiling would fall on their heads.

As much as he wanted her to die, his own early retirement wasn't something he had planned.

A flash of red caught his eye, and years of honed instincts kicked in to brace himself against the oncoming assault. Resolving to stick to the blades, which had proven effective, she'd shot in towards his hip.

More specifically, his left.

Searing metal dug into his mechanical limb, embedding itself within the newly molten steel. The leg was ruined, but it left her vulnerable for but a moment.

The very same chunk of metal shot up, the foot impacting her chest with enough force to send her flying. She flipped over in the air, planting both feet and an arm to the ground to slide to a stop.

James watched her carefully as he tested the damaged leg. Only the knee joint moved, leaving the ligament completely useless to him in the fight.

A sigh escaped him as he met her eyes. She was smiling, and her eyes shone with victory.

His arm rose up before him, a useless gesture against her methods of attack, but it brought a little comfort. He had lost...

Flames erupted in all directions, igniting the carpet trailing across the room. The focus, however, was definitely on him.

As heat washed over him, James smiled. He could at least remain content that-

Nah, fuck that.

His aura flared, calling forth a white light on par with that of the flames themselves. The energy flowed across his skin, preventing the damage, but that was hardly the end of his goal.

"You know why I got the name Ironwood?" he shouted, bracing himself against a pillar as the aura drained away. She didn't answer, but he figured she wouldn't.

The white light cut out suddenly as he fell to his good knee. He wasn't defeated, no... His palms contacted the floor, sending the energy into it.

The ground rumbled.

"Beware the glittering forests."

As the world faded to black, the aura loss finally catching up with him, he laughed. At least he'd get to go out with a bang.

* * *

Agony.

It was hard to describe what it felt like to be within that machine, but that word was certainly helpful.

The pain wasn't hers- it felt distant and lost. A burning sensation in her chest which seemed to spread across her body before suffusing itself with her flesh. Gradually, it faded, replaced by the warming of aura's natural flow.

But it faded with time, being tugged aside by something else. The foreign presence was... Odd. Emotions washed over her, filling her with a mixture of loneliness and fear. They remained, actually growing with time, until they vanished entirely.

 _Amber..._

The word was new, yet she understood it implicitly. It was a name. Her name? No... But close. The person she was in the past?

There were memories- those of wandering the land by herself. A carnival stood out amongst them, being something recent. There was a woman following her, wasn't there? Red eyes flashed through the haze of images. They burned with a hatred she'd seen before, but stronger, as though they demanded her death personally.

And then it was gone, replaced only by an inky blackness that seemed to replace her entire sense of being. No sight, no touch, no weight. Only emptiness.

Smoke?

Winter's eyes snapped open, the image through the glass door already enough to set her on edge. The hall was bathed in flames, which ate away at even the stone foundation.

But that wan't everything... Amidst the chaotic tide of orange and yellow was a myriad of metallic shades.

The Iron Forest.

The generals name wasn't just for show- it was a title granted to him from a battle in his youth. In an attempt to defeat an army of Grimm, he summoned forth an array of metal spikes from the ground itself to impale, cut, or just block the oncoming threat.

It was monstrously effective, and yet, as the flames only grew hotter, it was clear they had failed in their task.

With a flick of her wrist, the door exploded off of the machine and into the hellscape. A fitting term, seeing as there was a demon for her to remove from this world.

* * *

Jaune crushed a Beowulfs spine in his embrace, leaving it defenseless to a stomp on its head.

Well, if he hadn't missed. In his defense, though, the ground shaking wildly was a little unexpected.

He fell forward, crashing to the ground as the concrete beneath him shifted over and vibrated from some... Thing. He honestly didn't know, and his face planting into the ground wasn't helping matters.

The fight seemed to pause, as the Grimm and huntsman alike turned to face the source of the impact. Jaune looked too, following their gazes only to see a massive chunk of ice having crashed down atop the hole.

So... They were done?

Jaune's hands suddenly clutched his ears. As if called forth by the thought, his hearing had returned, and it hurt. It wasn't so much the volume, he realized, but rather the complete absence that preceded it.

Of course, that wasn't exactly of any consolation to him as his brain slowly realized what had happened.

He had managed to stay standing... That was what mattered, at least here, because the Grimm threat wasn't fully dealt with. The initial shock faded quickly, and their eyes now roamed for something to take their aggression out on.

As the closest thing and one in pain- erm, have you heard of the industrial magnets used in some factories?

His presence was a tad stronger than that.

The sound faded away once more when he rose, hiding while he prepared to fight. No matter... He could get by just fine with just what he could see.

Which just so happened to include a spray of bullets ripping the Grimm to shreds.

 _Oh._

* * *

"You insolent wretch!" Cinder shouted at her. The name was clear now, as if she'd known it for years, but the roaring woman still seemed... Wrong, somehow. "That power belongs to me! I earned it!"

Clearly she hadn't.

A light shone before her eyes, a shade of orange that was nearly invisible against the backdrop of an inferno. However, she hardly needed to see the power to use it.

Lightning crackled in the air, circling around her as the energy built up. The air was unbreathable already, so the smell of plasma didn't even reach her nose.

The actual plasma, on the other hand, did hit someone. Just not her.

"GAH!" Cinder screamed in pain, though the sound fell on deaf ears. Off to the side, the body of The General James Ironwood lay- beaten, bloodsoaked, and cooked into an unrecognizable heap of seared flesh and scorched metal or bone..

Heals clicked on the tile as Winter strode forward, the fire abating to allow her passage. Cinder was injured, likely from a combination of the Iron Forest and her previous attack, but she was still healthy enough to glare into her eyes with the hatred she'd seen and known for years.

Or at least, it felt that way. To _her,_ it was the first time, but it felt like an eternity ago that they'd met.

And now this would be their final encounter.

"Goodbye, Cinder," Winter said, raising a hand before her.

It only seemed appropriate to end her in the way she portrayed herself- bathed in fire.

* * *

"Oh no, you caught me," Roman shouted out as he was hauled away. "Whatever shall I do?"

Nobody smiled at his antics, but a smirk remained on his face the whole way. He was being escorted to Ironwoods ship, as expected. Soon enough he'd be interrogated, and get to make all kinds of jabs at his expense.

Ah, what fun he would be having.

The only thing that dampened his surprisingly good mood was Her pawns, still watching him as they assisted in taking out the remaining Grimm. It was clearly a ploy on the contingency, implying that there was a chance Cinder didn't get what she was looking for.

Meaning he was going to be stuck on this ship until near the end of the Vytal festival... Yay...

It would have been fine if they'd just let him walk aboard, but there was a screening process first. That seemed reasonable, but why take his hat or cigars? Come on- give a man some comfort before you lock him up.

Roman spared one last glance back before he was escorted into the ship- Neo watched from a distance, her expression equally as mute as she. However, that was a show of concern in and of itself.

 _Don't worry,_ he thought, but didn't get to express as the door was sealed behind them. _Everything going according to plan._

* * *

 **So... This chapter was originally going to be a bit longer than it is (the typical 4k) but I ended up chopping it up and rewriting enough to cut it down a ways... I hope I didn't disappoint anyone too greatly.**

 **I do still have more written, but I feel that it would go better just being placed in the next chapter. Give the first climax some breathing room, right?**

 **Cinder and Ironwood are dead, Winter is the Maiden, and the contingency plan is still in action regardless. What could Draco be planning? Find out next time on 'What the fuck am I doing'?**

 **For now, this is What'shisface signing out.**


	17. SAD

**Before anyone says anything, I came up with this Emerald plotline before Enjoy The Shitshow posted his comic strip. While I may have been slightly influenced by it, the strokes were set up more than a week ago, so I don't want any accusations of plagiarism.**

 **Additionally, if anyone thinks I should, I am more than willing to add more chunks to this and last chapter to fill in any gaps you're interested in. Of course, that would require you to tell me about it, so... Review or PM me as you please.**

 **One more thing: Any League players looking for a top/jungle tank player for a ranked duo/team? I could use a teammate who is reliably not 0/13.**

 **And welcome back to Excalibrrr.**

* * *

It seemed odd for the battle to be over. It felt anticlimactic, in a way, as if the Grimm were barely a threat.

Jaune looked down at himself, noting the damage to his clothing. The outfit- a brand new and expensive affair- had been shredded from all angles and would be a lost cost in saving. The same was not true of him, though, as not a single cut or scrape marred his skin.

Was that all the Grimm were to a huntsman? An inconvenience?

A terrifying and unending threat which humanity had dealt with since the dawn of time, yet defeated en mass by a sixteen year old with minimal training and no weapon.

The thoughts were killed when he turned to survey the rest of them, however. While many looked fine, having only minor injuries at best, others lay to the side, bleeding.

A notable pair lay near the breach, torn asunder by the now absent Grimm tide.

Those were just the fighters, however. The fight hadn't been contained to the square, and some Grimm had gotten further into the city. If he cared to searched, there were bound to be civilians who had fallen.

Casualties, the news would call them. The people who couldn't be saved.

The people who Roman had murdered.

His eyes roved across the battlefield, searching for the signature white and orange of the infamous criminal. He found them a distance away, already being escorted onto an Atlas ship- one that would no doubt lock him away for good.

Justice.

Or, at least, that was what it should have been. As Jaune looked around, ruined buildings and wounded comrades filling the square, he could only narrow his eyes. Prison wasn't fair for someone like that. He was a monster, equally as horrific as the Grimm themselves, and had only been stopped by the Atlesian Armada stepping in.

A sigh escaped him as he looked down. Why do this? He'd been on the loose, almost completely uncontested, for years now. This was a major risk to his operation, even before considering the immutable attention he'd receive if and when it succeeded. There must be some reason- some outside pressure that led him to do it...

That idea was terrifying, for multiple reasons. Roman was easily beyond the level of a student, even including the higher years, and he was the spearhead of all criminal activities as of late. For someone to intimidate him into it...

"Jaune!"

He could barely turn in time before a pair of arms flung themselves around his neck, forcing him a step backwards with the impact of the embrace. He took it in stride, wrapping his arms around her reflexively.

White.

That alone was comforting. There hadn't been time to recognize the voice, but it was definitely Weiss he was holding.

"Hey there, Snow Angel," he said with a chuckle, and though he couldn't see it, he felt the smile as she buried it in his neck. "Did'ja miss me that much?" She mumbled something he couldn't quite catch. "Come again?"

"I..." She took a breath, pulling away slightly but keeping her hands on his shoulders. "I thought we'd lost you."

Jaune raised an eyebrow, looking down at her in obvious confusion. Lost him? He was fine- not a scratch on him. He didn't feel particularly exhausted, either, more like he'd just finished a long run.

He felt great.

"Your aura..." she said, but couldn't finish. Instead, she held up her scroll, and the display was... Well, it had to be wrong, didn't it? It said he only had 4% left. People got knocked out around 15%, so that just wasn't possible, right?

Jaune called up the familiar presence, a comforting white glow forming at his fingertips, but... It didn't spread, and to his horror, the display actually dropped another 1% as the light fizzled out and died.

H-how!? He was near death, and would have been if his aura reacted normally! Yet he felt nothing!

Even now, with the adrenaline and endorphins clearing from his system, there was no pain or fatigue typical of even moderate aura loss.

In spite of the terror that shot through him, he shook his head. That's why devices like that existed, right? They would gauge his aura when he fought, and he'd simply need to pay more attention in the future. He could worry about it later. For now...

A finger rose up to wipe away a tear from her eye. "I'm here, Weiss. I... I just hadn't realized."

That didn't seem to comfort her any- not that he'd really expected it to. His own fear was nonexistent, but that was a problem in itself, and one she could no doubt feel as he brought her in again.

He _was_ terrified, but not of the reaper himself. If he could get so close to death without realizing it, he might leave them all behind.

"Come on, Snow Angel," he said, taking her hands in his. "Let's go home."

* * *

The flames flickered and waned, falling aside as their master burned away by the pale blue light of a far stronger fire. That too faded in time, leaving one person stacking in the dim glow.

Winter wept.

The water never so much as trailed down her face, the heat sending it steaming upwards, but the sobs were unmistakable. A heavy sound that echoed in the massive chamber as she fell to her knees.

And then they cut out.

There was no time to be emotional- the rest of Vale might need her now more than ever.

 _Ironwood..._

No. Mourning the general could wait. Duty was more important.

 _I would have mourned him..._

The thought was... Interesting. Were there going to be two minds in her head now? Or perhaps merely two thought proce-?

 _You're dodging the issue..._

Of course, for there were more important things to worry about.

 _You can't let this fester..._

Oh, there was no doubt about that.

Winter rose to her feet, steeling her resolve. The elevator shown some distance away, calling to her with its open doors.

It was time to go.

* * *

It was time to go.

Normally, that would have been a great things. Mission accomplished, time to meet the Grimm God, and then he could go on with his life. Unfortunately, it didn't look like any of that was going to happen.

Cinder hadn't shown up.

There had been plans for this. Even now, a few of Roman's goons were sending out messages for the start of the contingency. His and Emeralds scrolls, however, remained silent and dark. That would have meant little- perhaps she was being held up somewhere or she was fleeing to elsewhere- but she'd have at least have sent the message 'compromised'.

Still, nothing.

He didn't care all that much, really. Cinder had forcefully taken him in, and while he fought for her, his allegiance was always to himself. He was like Roman, in that respect, always fighting for his better interest, with the only real difference being that Roman fought for a certain little girl too.

The same could not be said for Emerald, who he noted in the corner of the warehouse, looking about irratically.

She hadn't said a word in over an hour- not even to give his insults an equally scathing retort. She was genuinely worried, apparently.

Or afraid.

Mercury sighed, throwing himself from the edge of a crate. He landed with an audible thump, but ignored it as he made his way over.

"Yo, Em," he greeted, stopping beside her. She looked up at him but didn't respond. "You seem like you could use a little company."

She glanced off to the left, as if to check something, before nodding back at him. Without another word, Mercury fell back against the concrete to sit beside her.

Cheering people up had never been something he was good at- entirely due to his fathers upbringing. He knew how to kill anyone who upset her or break people to his will, but neither of those skills would come in handy here.

Instead, he weakly flung an arm around her shoulder and pulled her in. The motion was stiff, but she slowly stopped twitching. This was about the best he could do, and he owed her this much at least.

But that wouldn't hold true forever... If Cinder was truly gone, he'd be leaving, and Emerald would almost definitely stay behind. He could live with that, as much as he would probably miss their... Friendship? He supposed it would be called that by many, but the concept had been inexorably stripped from both of them.

Cinder was at least partially at fault for that, having demonstrated the frailty of such bonds many times over.

Despite all of that, though, he'd stay there for a few hours... News on Cinder might take a while, and he could at least comfort her until then.

* * *

The orange glow which filled Winters vision gave way to the light of the sun as she stepped out onto the grounds of Beacon. She wasted no time there, already half the way to the cliffs by the time the doors closed well behind her.

But then she stopped, skidding to a stop as her eyes flitted about the courtyard.

Students were milling about... Slowly, and nervously, but they weren't panicking or rushing into Vale. Had... Had it ended already?

Thank Oum.

Exhaustion came in like a wave, pressing down on her as if gravity had suddenly tripled. She bore through it, though... There was still one thing she had to do before she rested.

She turned back to the elevator.

* * *

"Ah, the big shot finally graces me with his presence," Roman enigmatically greeted as the door to his cell opened behind him. "It's about time you showed up, Ironwood."

Silence.

After a moment, Roman spun around on the stool, but there was no general to greet him- only two soldiers who were indistinct at best. Ugh... He was going to pull one of the classic cop tricks, then. What was it gonna be? Good cop-bad cop? The Grill? Hell, something more original might even be fun.

Silence.

"Look, if you have something to say, do so." Roman's words went unheeded as they continued to stand, immobile.

And then they fell to the ground, slumping at painful angles to the floor.

"Whoa!" Roman shouted, standing up. This was... Unexpected. It definitely wasn't Neo or the brats, and Cinder wouldn't have pulled done anything nearly this early. Who...?

"Sorry about that," a voice said from out of sight. "Took a moment to turn them off." Turn them off? Those weren't the Atlesian Knights, though. He could see mouths under their visors and there was no rigidity to their collapse.

Footsteps accompanied a man stepping into the doorway. He was dressed in a rather pleasant looking pinstripe suit, though with black coloration and red accents- some frankly terrible colors for that kind of thing. White and Orange always contrasted so much better.

That wasn't the focus, however, but rather the mans aura. It was alight, bathing him in its energy, but... It wasn't white.

Even ignoring aesthetics, that was terrifying.

"Who are you?" Roman asked, masking his trepidation with an attempt at his usual smug confidence. The man was unfazed, if not elated, based on his present smile.

"For now, you may call me Anima," he said, taking a step inward. "I just got some wonderful news- Ironwood and Ozpin are both indisposed. That means you're my responsibility."

Roman raised an eyebrow at that. He knew about Ozpins leave, if only because of Cinder, but Ironwood was definitely here. Several weeks of planning and targeted robberies forced his hand and he'd seen the man himself on multiple occasions- at least from a distance.

Which meant he was dead.

Another part of that bugged him, though. He called that wonderful news, yet by the sigil adorning his breast claimed it as one of Atlas. A traitor? That made at least partial sense, but it still took too long to process.

The man, Anima, had left, leaving the door open for him to run after. Roman stood, but moved slowly. This could be a trap, and he was technically supposed to stay here.

As he passed the entrance, no alarms went off. Well... That was something at least.

A quick glance to either side revealed no one, and Roman sighed, making his way back into the cell. He could escape when Neo deemed fit, and staying here was part of the plan... Anima could do what he wanted somewhere else.

 _With someone else,_ he noted, remembering what he said regarding responsibility. That, and the look of horrific glee that shone is his horizontally slitted yellow eyes.

* * *

"So... Do you at least know exactly what your semblance does now?"

Jaune perked up at Yangs question, then looked down at his arm as though for answers. Where to begin, really? "It's..." Oum, what was it? Even across many battles, there were only a few things that seemed consistent, and that was the feeling of invulnerability and the deafness.

Those were handicaps, if anything. Would he really be cursed with _that_ as his semblance after all he'd been through?

The Ursa- Venor- all of it just being a confidence boost? That...

No.

The thought surprised him, but he instinctively knew that wasn't it. He was missing something...

Knockback.

When he'd been hit by Yang, and also by the Grimm, he hadn't moved. So... He couldn't be knocked back? That was useful, but then why would it make him deaf? There was still something more- something simple but important.

Movement.

"I think I know... I can't be made to move." It fit perfectly. Hearing was just the vibration of your ears, which would be movement. If his semblance stopped others from moving him, it couldn't differentiate between the two. "Additionally, I can't hear anything while it's active."

The rest of Team JWBY nodded slowly, with Weiss cutting out first to pose a question. "Have you named it?"

Named his semblance? He'd barely thought of the thing outside of these conversations, and he'd only just figured out what it even was. As such, he just shook his head blankly.

"Inviolability."

Oh... It looked like she had it covered, then. He still didn't know what that meant, but he was more than able to look that up in his own time. Instead, he just nodded, accepting it for now. "What's yours?"

Weiss looked down slightly, but her eyes remained on him. "It's a familial semblance... I didn't get to name it, and whoever did wasn't exactly creative. Glyphs might be short, but says next to nothing about what it actually does."

Wait, that was its actual name? That was terrible. Though... What else would you even call it? She was clearly capable of summoning ice from it, but she could also send people flying or create platforms and the like. How would you begin to create a name for that? Hell, he probably hadn't even seen all that it was capable of, which would only make it harder.

At least the rest of them had it easy. Shadow clones and hulking out weren't exactly complex abilities.

"Why do you ask, though?" Jaune said, suddenly curious.

"Oh, that's right, you're newer than the rest of us..." Weiss sighed at remembering his... Unfortunate past. "Atlas, Vale, and Mistral try and keep tabs on the semblances of the people within their borders. It's a security issue, since some people might be able to do crazy things like alter time or conjure explosions. They probably won't ask you for the details of your semblance, but if they deem it any kind of security threat, you would need to get it registered."

Huh. That made sense... Just of the semblances he knew, there were a few problematic ones, like Nora's ability to turn tasers- the normal nonlethal takedown method of law enforcement- into a strength boost.

Fortunately, at least for him, that shouldn't be an issue. The literal inability to stop me only went so far as making me move- they could still easily get in my way.

That, and as Weiss had pointed out, I still died as easily as before.

Man, wasn't that a sobering thought.

Still, Jaune smiled as he stood up. The Breach had ruined the day, including Weiss and his date, but the Vytal Festival sat nearby. There was plenty of time to have fun between matches, and they would all be there to enjoy it together.

"You all ready for the first match."

Three cheers met him.

* * *

"Em?" Mercury asked as she pulled herself out of his grip.

The thief remained silent as she rose, but a single word escaped her before she shuffled off.

"Goodbye."

So she knew, then... That he was leaving.

Mercury didn't get up, content to watch her walk away. She'd be fine- she could survive easily on her own and she still had help from Romans criminal organization. He, on the other hand, had no intention of staying here.

Why did he hate the idea of leaving, then? It had been the plan if Cinder died for more than five years, yet it somehow felt wrong. Was he missing something? He was an assassin... Surely he hadn't actually bonded with someone.

Mercury sighed, leaning back into the wall. He wasn't going anywhere- apparently.

Might as well take Emerald with him when he left... Yes, that's what it was.

Dammit Em...

* * *

"You're ignoring me."

Emerald sighed, doing just that to the speaker. She'd appeared over an hour ago, just before Mercury came to her, but it took only a moment to see the problem- namely that Mercury _couldn't_ see her.

"Ignoring me won't help."

She spared a glance up from the desk her briefcase sat on, meeting those amber eyes she'd long sought to look at her as anything other than an annoyance. Cinder stood before her, in all her glory, but noticeably interacted with nothing around her.

"I'm not ignoring you- I'm ignoring a phantom. You're... You're not here." Emerald took a deep breath, trying to dispel the illusion, but it failed just as it had several times before. "You are a hallucination born from my semblance and nothing more."

Cinder stepped forward, the smallest of smiles gracing her lips as she dramatically placed a hand atop her breast. "I am wounded, Emerald, that you would doubt me. There is always another option, and I did teach you to question everything."

She took another step forward.

"I am here, Emeral-"

"STOP IT!"

The shout did just that, silencing Cinder, but she continued.

"You're _not_ here! You're just fear and loneliness- the knowledge that with you gone, I am going to be alone again!" She gasped, her eyes watering. "You went into that vault and... And you..." Her breath caught, but she tried desperately to continue. "You-"

"Emerald."

Her name alone was enough to break her, replacing her cries with actual sobbing. She'd never say it again, certainly. Cinder was... She was...

"If I am really dead," Cinder began, "why aren't you the fall maiden?"

Emerald looked up, her mistress' visage suddenly absent. Of course... She was still alive... Her plan must be completed...

Even if she had fallen, and that was a lie... Beacon would fall.

She would take her place.

* * *

 **OOOH SHIT BOI! All hell is ready to break loose and the peacekeepers are all missing.**

 **We're gonna take a quick break from Vale, taking a trip down to Jericho- the City of the Moon. It's about time Ozpin made a comeback, and who doesn't love a little Oobleck too?**

 **When we return, the Vytal Festival will begin, and I can assure you that plenty of things will be different, especially with the characters that are conspicuously absent. Of course, I'd wish not to spoil, so I will instead leave you to your thoughts and theories.**

 **For now, I'd say shoot for the stars. If you miss, you'll at least hit the moon.**

 **Side note: chapters taking place in Jericho will be entirely from Ooblecks perspective and the titles will not be ice related puns. I'm sorry about that, but... I think it'd be a little odd for entire chapters with no reference to Winter or Weiss being named in their honor.**

 **Instead, they will be as follows.**

 **Chapter 1: Jericho**

 **Chapter 2: Jericho Falls**

 **Boring, I know. :P**


	18. Jericho

**Sorry, my friends, for being a day late. Finals took up a day unto themselves, along with the time spent studying... I am, however, done with the school year. Next week will be on Tuesday as normal. Additionally, the time between chapters might go down after that thanks to the free time summer gives me.**

 **On a related note, I was thinking of changing it up in the future- with your agreement, of course. The time between chapters can range from 1-7 days, with length differences for each, and I was wondering what you all would consider optimal. Please give me your thoughts, but know that it won't go into effect before the next chapter is released.**

 **This specific chapter is a bit shorter than normal, but the next chapter should more than make up for it. It should be around 5-6k words long, as it contains a good amount of combat and worldbuilding.**

 **Now I better stop writing this note before it turns midnight and I have to say its two days late. Here's to sketchy deadlines!**

 **Peace.**

* * *

Oobleck took a deep breath, savoring the air. Beacon was atop a mountain, and the cold breeze would vanish the moment they left- replaced by the temperate air washing in from the ocean. It would only grow worse from there as they moved Northeast, towards the equator.

He shook his head. He always overthought things... It made him worry and grow homesick on missions, which is why he became a teacher in the first place. Whenever he dwelt on his leaving, he would become anxious and choose something closer to his family or friends.

Now wasn't the time for any of that. There was a chance to unveil it all, to learn of the Grimm and explore ruins never before seen by man- an archaeological gold mine. If there was any mission that he'd be content ending on, this would be that.

Discovering the source of the Grimm; learning the answer as old as recorded history and then some. He, and the rest of the group, would become the very history he taught.

Calmly, he let the breath go, and turned to the rest of their party.

Headmaster Ozpin, the wisest person on Remnant and perhaps the oldest huntsman alive.

Draíochta Anam, the indisputably most destructively capable huntsman of Vale.

Novus Jade, one of the few people born with a healing semblance and a trained tracker.

And him, the actual archaeologist.

They contrasted quite thoroughly. Ozpin and Novus looked out to the horizon calmly, a small smile adorning the latter. Meanwhile both he and Draíochta practically vibrated in excitement, albeit for different things.

"Let us be off," Ozpin said finally, taking a step forward.

That's right... They were walking... Oobleck cracked a smile, imagining the two hundred or so miles ahead of them. Long though it would be, using a Bullhead would only add unnecessary risk to the trip. Wordlessly, he followed, matching the older mans stride.

To Jericho.

* * *

 _"Oh my god..."_

 _Oobleck looked up from his map to the speaker- one of the huntsman he'd met a few days prior. Sigurd, if he remembered right. The man had a semblance that refined his senses, so the statement certainly got the groups attention. "What is it?"_

 _Sigurd shook his head and blinked a few times, as if to check if what he was seeing were real. "A city..."_

 _Out here? There shouldn't have been anyone for miles, and certainly not enough for something that big. "A ruin?" Oobleck guessed. Probably old, too, since there hadn't been any reports of it._

 _"Aye. I can hear Grimm in there- lots of tiny bastards." Ah. Beowulfs, Creep, and smaller Nevermore, then. Maybe a few oddities, like Gecken, but nothing that would be a threat to their party. Twenty-one huntsman strong, five teams and himself, they were more than prepared for that._

 _This is what they came for, actually. The Grimm reports._

 _A ruin would just be a treat for him, then._

 _"We move in," Oobleck ordered, leading the march. "Kill anything that moves and secure the city."_

* * *

It was strange to think of twelve days worth of travel as nothing. Beacon, the entire Emerald Forest, and even a set of mountains after that, and the sun was barely falling. Around three fourths of their journey, just gone in a day. Though the ruins themselves lay hidden behind a copse of trees, the ocean was visible from the top of a nearby hill they'd set camp atop.

He was up there now, resting along the edge of the hill overlooking the forest. A good vantage point. Even with the trees in the way, it took little effort to see the collection of Grimm in the area. Mostly lesser Grimm too, which was convenient. While even a prime huntsman could be pressured by a giant Nevermore, no amount of Beowulfs would ever be enough for the four of them.

"Lien for your thoughts?"

Oobleck turned to the speaker, meeting Novus' eyes before returning his gaze back in the direction of Jericho. "That implies that I know what I'm thinking." He did, of course. He felt like a student again, with energy coursing through his veins- besides his coffee, obviously. How would he explain that though? Novus was a great huntsman, but he never showed any interest in where humanities greatest enemy came from.

That made some sense, he supposed. Traditional families rarely taught people to question, and Novus had two at the same time- the Jade and Luna families, no less. At the very least, he could rely on Novus in a fight, since neither side would allow anything less.

"Hows your wife, anyway?" Novus' eyes widened slightly at that, but he quickly corrected for it and narrowed them again.

"Serus is doing fine," he eventually said, turning towards the sky. The moon was visible, though it was but a sliver of its shattered self at this point in its cycle. He smiled at it. "I was actually wondering if you'd come over for dinner after this trip. You get a tad stir crazy when you don't socialize."

Ah... He was worried.

Oobleck laid back against the grass, letting the cold of the evening wash over him. He wasn't lonely, was he? He had hundreds of students and a few close friends by his side at all times. He was never bored, either, what with lesson planning and his field excursions.

He spared a glance back up to Novus, catching his gaze before the man hurriedly looked away. It did take a genius to figure out what that meant, but he was one.

"You want me to take a wife, don't you?"

The words held no ill will, but he seemed embarrassed at the suggestion. None the less, Novus reigned that in and faced him properly.

"It's alright if you don't want to, Oobleck," he explained. "It's just... I think you could use a real companion, ever since-"

He stopped, the silence actually bringing more anger to Ooblecks thoughts than the hinted words would have. Did he think him so fragile that they couldn't discuss Mountain Glenn without him breaking down? He knew that wasn't the answer, and that Novus was just trying to be courteous, but the silent insinuation was at least slightly offensive.

It passed without comment, though, as Oobleck merely sighed. Now wasn't the time to cause conflict within the group.

"I know you mean well, Novus, but I assure you that I'm fine." The words seemed to relax the man, who had been tensed since the slipup, but that didn't stop him pressing the point.

"For someone who talks so much about becoming a part of history, you don't seem very intent on leaving a legacy."

A legacy, huh? One didn't need children to leave one behind, but he could see the meaning in his words. The thing was... "Why are you intent on this, Novus?"

The man in question sighed, pinching the bridge of his nose between two fingers. "Well, you're coming out here on dangerous missions, aren't you? If you don't accomplish your grand dreams, for whatever reason, wouldn't you like to have given someone else the chance?"

He was forced to concede that point, but he made a show of not telling him that. If he agreed, Novus would no doubt have a lineup of some kind and force him to play the gentleman bachelor the moment they got home.

He would be far too busy with the results of this trip.

* * *

 _"Sir- more are coming."_

 _Oobleck sighed, waving the warning off. He and Port would have been enough to handle the Grimm coming in, so twenty people claiming their title should certainly be enough. His focus was on the ruins themselves- studying the hieroglyphics that adorned many of the walls. They seemed to tell stories, and the large blank sections of the walls likely contained murals once._

 _An artistic society, surely, but there seemed to be more than that. Their architecture was hardly ancient, even with the writing style that fit. Concrete, turned a dull red somehow, was their primary building material._

 _Not cement, mind you. Concrete; a modern invention._

 _The engraved symbols were in a lost language, but the grammar didn't seem that far removed from their own. He could identify some words as names, as well as a few conjugations. Their actual meanings, though... It would take time to decipher._

 _Far too long, unfortunately... Unless he found something worth coming back for, they'd be forced to leave this place behind completely. As fascinating as the past was, many disagreed, and thought their time and money best spent elsewhere..._

 _Oobleck stood, scanning his surroundings. There had to be some important building nearby; a temple or city hall, perhaps. He could do some quick dusting and take pictures- identifying the characters and their meaning when they returned. If anything turned up, which it hopefully would, they'd be able to return._

 _The buildings were all inordinately large for an ancient civilization, often three stories tall, and were almost all flat and rectangular. Normally, that would have made his job impossible, but one structure stood out from the rest. It was large, but horizontally spread, and it was a single story with a domed roof._

 _Differences in design were so often differences in purpose. Oobleck spared no time rushing over._

 _It was clearly a governmental building of some kind, and though the building was clearly as old as the rest of this place, the ornate wooden doors still stood. They were cracked inward, as though a large Grimm had thrown itself against it once, but had then stopped._

 _A white flash signaled a new image in his scroll, but he didn't stop there. This place was huge, and he wouldn't have long._

* * *

Oobleck relaxed into his cup of coffee, enjoying the silence of the night. He had first watch and, as usual, it was the longest as well. When you carried military grade stimulants with you all the time, people expected that of you.

Not that he could complain, really. The stars stretched out above him, providing an endless sea of dots for him to connect, creating images. A huntsman wrestling a Beowulf; two people trading bags of spice; even a set of stars which almost perfectly shone the shape of a sword. If not for the tip missing, it would have been a near recreation of Excalibur.

Or, its visage, at any rate. The real blade was... Doubted to exist.

It was while he was stargazing that footsteps approached him. A single sip of the mans coffee was all it took to recognize him.

"Ozpin," he greeted, tilting his head back just enough to catch a glimpse of the older huntsman. "Can't sleep?"

The headmaster nodded silently, taking another sip of his drink, before gazing down upon him. "Just a bit restless over the coming day. It is... Not often that one finds a hidden civilization out in the woods."

Oobleck chuckled lightly as he turned back into the distant woods- their target resting inside. One day until they learned it all.

Until they explored Jericho.

That was one of the few results of their earlier expedition- the name of the town. While the translation was technically 'Lunar City', it wasn't a long stretch to use 'City Of The Moon' as its official name. Jericho sounded so much cooler than Lunis or some other nonsense.

A whisper of Ozpins words reached his ears, meaning he'd just missed what the headmaster had said. "Can you say that again?"

"What do you think of the Grimm," Ozpin repeated, seemingly unbothered by his lack of attention.

The Grimm, huh? "Simple- there was a disaster here that spurred a lot of negativity, but since there aren't any people here, the more intelligent Grimm leave." They couldn't exactly eat the emotions, after all, so they would linger and draw less experienced Grimm for potentially thousands of years.

It wasn't a perfect theory, since they didn't yet know what happened to Jericho, but Ozpin certainly seemed to agree with it.

"Bart."

Oobleck looked up at his name, confused. He had long since abandoned that name, and Ozpin only ever called him that when something... Important happened...

"What is it?" he asked, already guessing at the answer. "Did Novus get to you?"

Ozpin laughed, shaking his head. "Oum, no! You might notice that I don't have any children either." He had, and thought nothing of it. The life of a huntsman was dangerous, and slowing down to have a kid might get in the way.

But then... What was it?

"Thing is... I believe it may be more dangerous this time around."

An eyebrow quirked upwards. "Why is that?"

"You mentioned in your report that someone died here."

Oh... That's right. Crap. If his theory on why the younger Grimm congregated here were correct... Sigurds death would have brought the elder Grimm back. Unfortunately, with the trees in the way, there would be no way of scouting it out effectively.

No Nevermore graced the sky this night, masking all hints of the Grimm from view.

"It shouldn't be that bad, right? It was only one person, and with how much negativity was already here, I doubt it would make a dent." It shouldn't, logically speaking. Unfortunately, Grimm were frequently willing to correct those who thought they understood their behavior... He'd rather not be among them.

None of them had a detection semblance this time around. Well, unless Ozpin was going to pull one out of nowhere despite how many times such an ability would have been useful. No... They were blind.

Was that a reason to call it off? The added negativity wasn't the issue, but rather the validation of human presence. A corpse was a reminder that people would come. The Grimm would only grow in number until even the bones had vanished. That would be decades, if not longer... The sooner the better, then.

"You should get some sleep," Oobleck said, finally. "We will want to start early... I'll take the whole night."

Ozpin spared him a look of concern at that last bit, but let it pass after a momentary glance at his thermos. "Very well. Good night, doctor."

"Good night," he returned, taking a deep breath. In this group, he was the weakest, and it would be better if they got more sleep... They would awake at sunrise and begin the attack immediately. There could be no more delays, or else the city would become untouchable.

It was almost time to invade a dead city.

The second city for the second time. Fitting.

* * *

 _"There must be some sort of mistake," Roman stated, tossing Bart his scroll. "It says they're sealing the railway."_

 _In the darkness of the tunnels, the scroll was bright, and it took a moment for his eyes to adjust. When they did, though, what he saw was... Disheartening, certainly. Despite the missive that they enter having come less than an hour again, Team ROOT was trapped in tunnels which would soon flood with citizens and then Grimm._

 _A massacre, and it would be impossible to stop. Even now, with miles separating them from the Grimm, the sounds of a tidal wave of storming feet echoed against the stone walls._

 _"What... What do we do?"_

 _Bart grimaced, not meeting Olivers eyes. "What else can we do? We're not exactly being offered a chance to escape."_

 _"I have an idea," Roman interrupted, lifting his cane back the way they'd come. "We could run."_

 _"What!?" they all exclaimed in unison._

 _"You can't possibly expect us to abandon these people," Oobleck said, gesturing towards the civilians slowly making their way towards them. They would be defenseless without them, surely, and would definitely perish._

 _And that was assuming they could even escape... They would have sealed it by now, and likely by cave in, which would prevent everything from moving across._

 _"You're worried about the sheep, but we've already been thrown to the Beowulfs. If we don't get the hell out of here, we'll be just as dead as they'll be."_

 _It was... Hard to argue with that, but Oliver and Teya stood their ground. Bart stood in the middle, unable to choose between them. There was no way they'd be able to hold back the horde, but the same was true of escaping, right?_

 _The choice was taken out of his hands when Teya scoffed at his indecision. "Me and Oliver are going to the Grimm. If you don't follow, that's on you." Without another word, the pair broke away from the group and sprinted down the tunnel._

 _Bart took a single tentative step forward, but a hand on his shoulder gave him pause. "You know as well as I do that if we stay, we die." Bart nodded, looking in both directions. To have a chance to survive or to die an honorable death..._

 _It was a difficult choice, and one he'd hoped never to have to make._

 _"Do you really want to become a statistic?"  
_

 _Bart shook his head, and that clinched it. In the grand scheme of things, he'd be forgotten if he died here. Disasters were swept away to avoid negativity, and if he was among the casualties, he would be scrubbed away just as much._

 _"Let's go," Roman said, running off. Bart followed, sparing one final glance back to where Oliver and Teya ran off to._

 _They weren't coming back from that dead city._

* * *

 **Heh. This was a blast to write. I have always loved Doctor Oobleck as a character, but he's almost always been a gag character in my writings. Someone who talks and moves ridiculously fast and seemed to know everything, but would always be blunt and boring about it. (Perhaps that's why he and Port get along, eh?)**

 **He was essentially a physical and mental foil to my other primary gag character, Nora, despite little interaction between the two.**

 **Here, however, I am hoping to correct for that. Since this and Jericho Falls are from his perspective, I hope to give him a little more development.**

 **Hopefully, you like it.**

 **However, if you don't, there's always the option to yell at me furiously in the review section. Please do, by the way, as review numbers help me whether they're good or not.**

 **Hate makes bait.**

 **Hell if I care anyway. I'm just making an ending to humour myself.**

 **Ha.**


	19. Jericho Falls

**And I have a job- as earth shatteringly agonizing as it is to stand around for eight hours straight. However, I am a man of my word, and spent literally my entire day off to write this out. My apologies if it feels a bit rushed, but that's just the writing process right now. It should be better in the coming weeks.**

 **The plan, however, was created a while back, so it should line up pretty well with my intentions.**

 **A review asked my if I was going to use the world building from TGWP specifically. Originally, no, I wasn't going to, but in the process of writing this chapter, I noted a... Well, I noticed a glaring plothole the size of the sarlac pit.**

 **It couldn't account for magic, so not Ozpin, no Qrow or Raven, and no maidens. I could stretch it to include the relics, but... That wouldn't cover nearly enough.**

 **As such, yes, I am using an alternate version of Ryuug'is worldbuilding. The difference is mostly based on perspective and power level, though. I don't have anyone on the good side nearly as powerful as Metatron or Adam, so I can't exactly drop Malkuth on everyone.**

 **They will not feature in the present, and their creations (except the normal Grimm) won't either. Additionally, Ryuugi left a few details vague, so I will be using my own headcannon for anything he didn't specify.**

 **Right. With that, here you go- Jericho Falls.**

* * *

Daylight came slowly to the camp. Distant hills masked the rising sun from view until it crested in a brilliant orange glow. It was incredible, really, but nobody there payed it any mind. It wasn't something to be admired, but rather a signal to be heeded.

And heed it they did. As the sun bathed the forest in its light, they made their way towards it with weapons drawn.

It was an inspiring image- the four of them marching fearlessly into battle.

So it made perfect since that Draíochta ruined it.

"Time to have some fun," he declared, totally missing the mood. Oobleck slammed a palm into his forehead, but let it go without comment. His eccentricities aside, he would be invaluable to the invasion itself.

Speaking of- the man broke away from the group as white spread across his legs and coalesced at his feet. Aura skates, he called them, and they were incredible. The man pounded forward for a moment, using his aura to enhance his speed, before surrendering control entirely.

Friction vanished with a thought, and the man shot forward with his already impressive speed without issue. The Grimm took note of him, though it was slow. No negativity radiated from the madman- only blissful euphoria. The smile that adorned his face would be called manic by most, but in his gratitude, Oobleck thought of it as happy.

The other three of them followed behind at a slower pace, allowing the goat faunus to engage on his own. He'd be fine, certainly, and they had another job.

Rather, he had a job, and the other two would watch his back while he did it.

A bright flash shot through the forest- the energy of Draíochta's aura blasting forth as a beam to destroy all Grimm in its path. Similar flashes echoed around him as he spun, still swiftly skidding across the ground on glowing feet.

They took the chance for what it was. While the Grimm were drawn to him, they took to the trees and crossed from high branches. Grimm surged below; Beowulfs and Ursae making their way to the slaughter, and rhythmic wing beats sounded above their heads.

None thought to look up, leaving their approach uncontested. The ruins were just ahead- mere moments away- and the first bomb dropped.

Well, not quite. It was more like Draíochta blew himself up.

Wave of energy spread from the epicenter of the Grimm, shaking the ground and nearly causing him to stumble from his treetop post. Novus faired better, years of highly trained reflexes allowing him to merely shift the placement of his landing foot.

And Ozpin faired the worst, falling into the horde below.

 _No matter._

Oobleck lept down below to reinforce his boss. The plan had originally been to carve a path through anyway, though they'd fortunately been able to talk Draíochta out of that.

Destroying the ruins wasn't exactly their goal.

A simple glance around upon landing revealed very few Grimm facing their way- mostly just those they directly got in the path of. Good... That would make this easier.

Two Beowulf dashed forward first, attacking either side of him. Oobleck merely stepped back, allowing them to slam into each other. His thermos swung around, the handle extending midmotion, before sending them barreling into their fellows.

Novus landed before him then, barely letting the sound of his impact reach their ears before he shot off. His hands whirled around him, cutting into flesh and bone as if they were nothing. His momentum carried him forward, leaving a path for them to follow.

Ozpin stood beside him, nodded once, and ran. Without hesitation, Oobleck followed.

Black forms billowed away beside them as they moved, having been torn asunder by Novus' hand as he cut through everything in his path- trees included. Nothing stood as an obstacle to them- not really- so it came as no surprise that they made it to the ruin relatively unscathed.

The city was empty of Grimm now, allowing Oobleck to sprint down the roads toward the main building. The others followed, assuming he knew where he was going.

He did, and the large domed structure opened up before him. Its condition was unchanged since he'd been here last, which made sense, seeing as it had only been a little over a week. Now he knew a bit more about their language, however, and could begin to translate the inscriptions within.

Novus stepped through the colossal opening left by the still open doors first, doing a quick scan of the room before motioning the two of them inside. They moved quickly, ducking into the building before closing the doors behind them.

The Grimm were focused on Draíochta, and it would be a good idea to leave it like that. The less chance Grimm came for them, the better.

Without the sunlight peering through the open door, the area was dark, and though alcoves were made where light fixtures would normally be, they were absent now. They had to make do with retrieving their scrolls and using the flashlight function on them.

Three doorways opened out before them, and it didn't take long to find what he was looking for- the Hall of Records.

That's not what they called it, but it was good enough for him. Hall of Records? Record Hall? Bah.

A small corridor separated the entrance area from the library of information he was looking for. The documents weren't recorded on the walls or even tablets, as he'd originally suspected... It wasn't paper, either, though he did see a few books lying about the room. It took a moment for him even process what he was seeing.

It was a computer.

In an ancient ruin that used a dead language and was relatively unscathed despite the Grimm that surrounded it.

His expression wasn't the only one of shock, as Ozpin looked shaken and Novus' eyes widened. Oobleck forced his confusion down, for now, because the device would certainly explain itself. If it still worked, obviously.

Oobleck walked over, tapping a large button marked with the symbol for 'power' on it. Within seconds, the device was active and a large screen bathed them in a harsh glow. They shielded their eyes, but by the time they'd recovered, the light had dimmed drastically- adjusting almost perfectly to the light level of the room. That was to say, it was dark, but with no other light in the room, it was still clearly visible.

Good.

The screen was covered in a series of icons, most of them folders. The names were mostly boring- things any normal business or government would need. In any other circumstance, Oobleck would have been enthralled by those details, but there were a few more pressing concerns.

Like the one marked 'Project D.E.U.S.' It was unlikely anyone else would have known, but it was literally named 'Project God', and the file size was immense.

Once opened, the folder contain a lot- far too much for him to get through. A little over a dozen more folders showed up, many of them with abstract names, but it also contained a few images and voice files. Of course, he only found that out by opening them.

The images were... Interesting. They showed people, if you were willing to stretch that word to apply to them. He hoped it was a fabrication on their part, because their appearances... Inhuman beings stood together, twelve in total, and they were completely unreadable as they looked at a camera from a sterilized white room. They were all different- ranging from many-winged and eyed seraphim creatures to one that would have looked like a shadow if not for being near the front.

Their feelings, powers, and everything else were all impossible to see. How would you judge the expression of an entity composed entirely from multicolored plants?

Other pictures were there, but were of mundane things, like a few people in lab coats or suits. At this point, he ceased to be shocked at their modernity, but he still remained confused by it. They were clearly on their level, but samples he'd taken from a few damaged buildings reported ages of more than a thousand years.

There was something going on. Something had to have happened for their species to fall back so far- it was simply a matter of finding out what it was. He had an idea, and he just hoped he was wrong.

The sounds of the Grimm had vanished once the door had been closed, but he could still imagine the battle going on outside. To the unprepared, the Grimm would have been devastating. If they were created at that time...

A record had to exist of them, if that was the case, but he didn't have time to translate any of the audio documents. Instead, he moved to the text files, hoping against all odds that they would be something he could work with quicker. Since hieroglyphs were used in the written form, almost every character needed to be interpreted, but language could be grasped a bit quicker once you knew what common words were.

When he opened the file, however, the device asked for a language.

 _Oh my..._

Oobleck gazed down at the keyboard, able to grasp the letters enough to cobble something together. Tentatively, he entered the closest thing he could get to 'English'.

It accepted the answer readily, and the first log opened up.

He blinked, taking a moment to process that. English existed at this time, but they weren't using it? It was a universal language now... Why wasn't it then? That was something to think about, but something else took precedence.

Novus stood at attention by the entrance, apparently unconcerned by the details, while Ozpin had vanished- likely to check out the other rooms- while he was preoccupied. That was fine- they hadn't seen any Grimm in the city itself this time, and it would be a bit odd for them to hide in here.

His eyes returned to the screen.

* * *

 _Daedalus Personal Log_

 _The most bizarre thing happened today. Somebody came into the laboratory with a gun, and demanded a list of chemicals from us. I knew from experience just what would happen when they were mixed, and I didn't feel like arming a terrorist, but... He had a gun. Our security is normally great, but he'd made it into the actual lab and locked the door behind him. What were they gonna do?_

 _Nothing. That unsettling reality hit me, and likely everyone else there, like a ton of bricks. I felt crushed, both literally and emotionally, as he singled me out to grab what he requested. It took a minute for me to actually grab everything, since we lock all our cupboards and I didn't have the keys to some of them, but I eventually brought everything out to him layed it on a table near him. He examined the contents of the box, smiled for a moment, and then met my eyes._

 _A bright flash blinded me as he pulled the trigger, and I had a simple thought: 'I am going to die.'_

 _I didn't want to die though... I'm only thirty-two, and we're well on our way to curing aging, so I should survive well into my thousands. Screw Death- I was going to survive._

 _But a bullet isn't really concerned with your desires. This time I felt literally hit by a ton of bricks as the impact sent me backwards. I collapsed to the ground, sure of my demise at the hands of this man. Everything hurt, especially my gut. Despite that, shock didn't set in, but that would have at least kept the agony from me. As it was, I could only clutch at the wound as I curled up on the floor._

 _The strange thing is... I was fine. A hole was cut straight through my clothing, and a nasty bruise was already forming at the point of impact, but I wasn't wearing any real protection. With how powerful handguns are nowadays, I should have been pierced through._

 _And then I saw it, a faint shimmering white glow covering the skin._

 _In spite of the pain, I looked up at him and watched the man leave. The sound of gunfire came back through the door, informing me that security got him almost instantly. I didn't get to see the body, though, even after the fiasco was over._

 _Not that I really wanted to, or anything, despite what Jeremy says. He really needs to plug his cake socket._

 _Regardless, I'm not gonna let this go to waste. It's not what I was trained for, but I am a scientist, and I will do everything in my power to learn what this... Energy is._

* * *

Aura.

It wasn't a particularly complicated thing, given its limited interactions and uses, but they at least had someone to teach them. For a man who unlocked it on his own, possibly before Aura was a known thing...

That could end poorly. Aura exhaustion could lead to death in severe cases, and the feeling of invincibility a user gains could lead to some issues for a man not trained to recognize it, or even looking for the end of their power.

Far more files were there, however, so Oobleck simply moved to the next one.

* * *

 _Daedalus Personal Log_

 _It's been a week or so since I was shot and, well... I still know very little. I managed to convince my colleagues of what I discovered, and we ran a few tests, but its difficult to get any details on the glows properties since it exists within me._

 _That said, I have learned more. The glow- Atman, as I have grown to call it- protects me from harm and heals my wounds. I imagine there are limits, but both I and the others have concerns about testing them. It tired me out to use it, however, and that led us into discussing its costs._

 _Near as we can tell, there is only one- calories. However, the energy produced in healing me or protecting me from harm far exceeds the weight I am losing, which left us wondering where the rest of it came from. Unfortunately, we couldn't tell, and I doubt we will since Atman doesn't seem to obey conventional physics. If it is possible, however, then I may have just discovered another fundamental force of reality! Even beyond a superpower, I could get a Nobel Prize for this!_

 _I must remain calm and deal with this slowly, however. I doubt someone would try and kill me over it or anything, but I need to learn as much as I can about this ability. Can I give it to others? Can I have it protect objects? If so, can it heal those objects?_

 _I'm sure that I'll learn in time, and if nothing else, it will at least help me lead a long and healthy life. To Atman!_

 _And now I see why people look at me weirdly when I say that out loud..._

* * *

"Atman..." Oobleck said, rolling the word around on the tip of his tongue. He'd heard it before... Right? It was an old word, even by his standards, so it made at least a little sense that they would use it.

What was it, though? He obviously referred to Aura with it, so... No, that's not quite right. Aura was its own word...

The soul.

Oobleck shook his head, dismissing those thoughts before they could get to him. He was distracted- he deserved to forget a word every now and then. He had a job to do, though, so he simply opened the next one.

* * *

 _Daedalus Personal Log_

 _Dear lord- the media finally learned what I've been up to... No, this can't be happening. They think I've been chosen by God or something- that my soul has been released by our creator during my time of strife. That was ridiculous, right!?_

 _Regardless, I have continued my research, and have discovered a few more properties. Atman can be summoned across my body at will, and this empowers its protective qualities while also producing light. This is a little more useful since I can control its location, density, or- to a lesser extent- color and, from there, direct it onto objects._

 _Unfortunately, Atman does not remain within the things I place it onto. I found that out the hard way with a mirror I'd been testing it on, so... Seven years bad luck for me, I guess._

 _Soon- soon- I will try doing this to another person. My instincts cry out to do this to someone immediately- to grant them this power- but something holds me back... I am near invulnerable to mundane weapons, and if I gave this to everyone, criminals would be near unstoppable. Sure, their victims are super tough, but if they can't physically stop the thief..._

 _I will try to keep it to people I can trust. Beyond that, I can only hope that the future doesn't turn out like that. For now... I must continue my work._

* * *

That man wasn't far off, all things considered. Roman was a perfect example- having Aura and a weapon makes him virtually unstoppable to the average citizen. A system was created, however, to minimize the creation of such people. Daedalus' will lives on. Unfortunately, that system still doesn't take Semblances into account very well, and it's doubtful that Daedalus was even aware of them in the first place... That could be an issue.

As for the transfer to other people, it was discovered long ago that it was possible. The long sayings beforehand are mostly a superstitious tradition than anything else- like a blessing of luck unto the other- and the process is pretty simple. He should have discovered it pretty easily.

The fact that this was related to Aura was... disturbing, however, since it was clearly involved in the creation of those... Things. The Deus, or gods, as the project name called them.

Forging monsters with Aura... Grimm... Oobleck shuddered at the thought, but set it aside. Even if he knew that answer, how they came about specifically might be useful in pushing the Grimm back.

With a quick check behind him to confirm that Novus was still there, Oobleck returned his gaze to the computer.

* * *

 _Daedalus Personal Log_

 _It worked! If f***ing worked!_

 _There are now a total of eight people with these abilities- all colleagues of mine- and we're able to do so much more now. We've been comparing duration, natural color, durability, healing speed, and anything else we can think of to figure out as much as we can about Atman._

 _Our enthusiasm is dwarfed a bit though by the unsettling reality of our sample size. To run any real experiments, we're gonna need millions of people to gather data on, possibly more. Once it's that far, it will be next to impossible to spread it to the entire world._

 _Is that a bad thing, though? My problem with crime was actually rather easily resolved- just restrain them. While I am stronger than I was before, and faster too, it's not to a degree that would even make me match an athlete. I really need to thank Angela for that one later._

 _Only one real problem remains, and that's the logistics of giving this power to everyone, and then gathering data on them. I've managed to get Parliament to fund it, though it's not a whole lot. I think they're waiting for results that benefit them directly..._

 _I can respect that, to a degree. However, with how this research has been going thus far, I would say such will be coming soon. As a result of this, though, I won't be making personal logs anymore, but rather mission reports to the people working under me._

 _UNDER ME! That part alone amazed me, but I guess that's to be expected. I am the one who knows how to use this the best and can teach others._

 _And here marks my last recording before Project D.E.U.S. launches. I don't know if I'm gonna miss the calm of my life before, but I am looking forward to the future. Healthy strong lives for everyone hardly sounded like a bad thing._

 _To Atman! *Clinks glass*_

 _Heh._

* * *

Oh... Oh no.

It didn't take a doctorate to see where this was going- at least to an extent. The kinds of things a million people with Aura and Semblances could do...

They could end the world, and it was starting to look like they had. The moon had to have been shattered at some point. The world had to have millions of people then or such statements would be meaningless.

Did... Did Aura bring about the apocalypse?

He had to know.

* * *

 _Project D.E.U.S. Quarterly Report #1 - Daedalus_

 _So much has happened in the last three months. To say my world had turned upside down would be ignoring almost every other person on Earth. Everything is different now, and it's almost all good things. Mortality is down, but so is the birth rate, meaning that overpopulation is actually going down too. With elongated health spans, people have been getting better educated, and nearly everyone is leading happier lives._

 _But that's not what this project is about. As much as it pleases me to see the benefit of Atman on the regular life of everyone, there are some more important points to discuss._

 _Super powers, specifically. At first, they seemed randomly distributed and effectively unique. However, with our sample size, we were able to notice a few patterns within them that led to... An unsettling realization._

 _The Atman literally is the soul of a person and the powers they gain are based on the properties of the soul. That part, many can accept, but... Souls are made of a collection of twelve identifiable Quirks- named off of Quarks in quantum physics. Everybody has a different distribution, if you narrow it down far enough, but those powers only require to a certain decimal point._

 _Four people have already been discovered who have exactly the same telekinesis power, and it's... They have the same personality. Atman essentially reveals that human behavior is dictated by a soul, and since we've yet to see the concentrations of any souls change..._

 _People have strictly defined personalities, outside of mental disorders or hormones or something._

 _While I don't personally find this to be terrifying, as many people do, I recognize the ramifications of it. I already believed in a deterministic universe, but if our soul itself defines our actions, we're not really making choices in the moment either. We're reacting to stimuli._

 _That realization seemed too much for many, and they rejected Atman. Unfortunately, that's when we found out another thing... It only goes away when you die._

 _We don't have an epidemic of suicide, which is good, but that fact seems to have upset quite a few high profile people. They are demanding we work harder- find a way to change the soul somehow and prove the earlier conclusion wrong._

 _If it is possible, it will be done, but I dread to imagine what will occur if it isn't. People need their souls, as evidenced by the deaths from using far too much of it, and I can only see one way to tamper with the soul without removing anything..._

 _Adding more soul essence to it._

* * *

Oum above.

That was... Startling. He was predestined to be who he was- that he could accept, as the document suggested- but the Semblances being defined by the soul part... It made sense, but there had to be something else going on. What about hereditary Semblances, like those from the Schnee family? Were they passing down the soul, with only minor differences?

It was possible, but doubtful. That Semblance had been around as long as records on the Schnee go, and no decedents had ever had anything different, even when they had children outside the family.

Too many documents followed that one- way to many for him to read. There wasn't a port for his scroll, either, so he couldn't exactly download them to read later.

Skip to the important things, then. He scanned through the file names until one caught his eye.

* * *

 _Sudden Changes - Ikarin_

 _The changes were subtle at first. The test subjects grew more intelligent or strong or any number of other purely physical attributes when they were offset in certain areas, though their behavior also moved with it in predictable ways. We had trouble containing Hesed and Netzah due to their sheer power and Malkuth due to his indominable will, but with the application of electricity, they surrendered to us again._

 _It was while they were in their rooms that the more interesting changes began. Their souls glow began to change in more unique ways. Keter's was the most mundane, simply glowing brighter, while Malkuth's took the opposite direction and started blacking out light from him. While he is still partially visible under the miasma when using a camera, he appears as a black silhouette to the naked eye._

 _The rest of them grew a variety of extra bits, like vines or stone. The oddest by far had to be Tif'erat who simply came alight with a bright orange fire. He wasn't caused pain by the flames, so we can conclude the effects are at least safe to the individual._

 _The percentages have only reached 60% of their respective Quirks, outside of Keter who has been difficult to infuse due to the rarity of his trait among the populous, so I look forward to the results as we increase that number. We will never reach 100%, but I imagine we may get close, and with so many souls... Their power will be legendary._

 _For now, however, our tests have been inconsistent. Their strength and speed are stable, at around 20,000 pound deadlift and 48mph running respectively, but their stamina is wildly different- both between each other and at seemingly random intervals. Malkuth is the only notable exception, as he doesn't seem to truly exhaust himself._

* * *

Ikarin? Where was Daedalus?

Oobleck scrolled through the files, searching for the mans name amongst the titles. After that first quarterly report, there were none.

Following him, the names changed constantly, though a few did repeat such as Ikarin. Had he been taken off the project? It was possible, but his spine tingled, hinting at something off going on. It spoke of infusing souls, and the rarity of the populous, so they had obviously begun taking souls from people and giving them to the test subjects.

Had Daedalus joined them?

It wasn't likely to be recorded in any of these files if he was, and the man would have been long dead by now anyway, so Oobleck forced himself to move on instead. As much as it bothered him to leave it like this, he didn't have the time to waste. Draíochta wouldn't last forever, and they needed to retreat before the cavalry fell.

With a simple click, another text box appeared.

* * *

 _The New Gods - Pyhre_

 _Their power has grown. It is impossible to describe that as anything else. Keter has begun to look more abstract as his extradimensional wings and eyes begin to overlap with one another, and while his physical strength has actually begun to fade, it has been replaced with the ability alter matter with his mind._

 _Likewise, Malkuth, has begun to show a similar trend of reality bending powers, though his physical strength remains completely unmeasurable. However, his range and perceptions are lacking. Soon, he may even be blind as his soul prevents a greater portion of light from touching him._

 _While the rest haven't majorly grown since they were given 80% concentration, they continue to exceed our ever increasing standards. Just last week, Keter began identifying bacterial infections from a man on the other side of the planet. The diagnosis wouldn't have been a large accomplishment, if not for the fact he saw the bacteria themselves through the planet. Malkuth, on the other hand, has been experimenting on the practical side. With a little help from one of our technicians, he has started to tamper with the very definition of life as he created a breed of worm that needs not eat or mate to reproduce._

 _He named a few of them after legendary creatures, though it is unclear how he learned of them. I suspect he has snuck out to the computer lab again despite the newest layer of security. I can only imagine he had Keter's help in the matter, as only he could have seen the password locks to the doors being implemented._

 _That is the other thing I've noted. While they have grown to be a sort of messed up family after the year they've been together, most of the Sephirot try to leave the others well enough alone and occupy their time with personal missions, like Binah's recent attempts at curing Endosickleocoriosis._

 _Malkuth and Keter are different, showing genuine compassion for one another. Were they brothers before the transformation process began? I could not find any records on any of the Sephirot's pasts, and I was not here in the beginning, so I can only speculate on the matter._

 _Despite their camaraderie, I do see a problem on the horizon. Malkuth continues to evolve physically, being able to shape greater portions or reality to his whims and even alter the nature of quantum particles, but he has begun to lose his connection with the outside world. Keter, conversely, is losing his physical form altogether as he transcends reality and gains an understanding of the universe beyond my comprehension._

 _I can only hope that no problems arise between the two... Such a conflict would likely be the end of humanity._

* * *

Malkuth created the Grimm.

It wasn't stated there, but he'd likely had years to perfect the creatures into the perfectly self-sufficient beings that covered the world now. Additionally, that tale of two brothers Ozpin spoke of- the two gods who were behind the fall of mankind.

Too true.

Oobleck rose from the chair, taking a moment to look at the computer. It would require a little work, but Atlas would be able to make everything they'd need to get it running, and the device shouldn't weight more than 20 pounds. The screen was another issue, but the same logic applied.

This computer had all the answers they'd been looking for since the Grimm came about and could lead to turning them back.

Pulling the various cords from the back of the device, Oobleck held the desktop within the crook of his arm. Now all he needed to do was get Ozpin and Nov-

As he turned around, the green haired huntsman was gone.

 _Did he go after Ozpin?_

With a mixture of caution and urgency, Oobleck strode towards the coridoor separating the Record Hall from the main room. It was empty and dark, as it was when they'd passed through before, but he could see the light at the other end.

The door was open.

Fear gripped Oobleck as he sprinted down the narrow passage. No, no, no... Why would they do that!?

They wouldn't, he realized, and that only made his stomach sink worse. Something was wrong, and he probably had only a few moments to figure out what that was. His eyes roved the main chamber, noting almost nothing out of place. The doors had been opened, but they were only as damaged as they were on arrival.

And then he saw it- glowing red eyes peering back at him from the other hall. The creature, whatever it was, growled, and the sound carried all the way over.

It strode forward, it's form slowly coming into the light and revealing its horror to him. The beast itself was rather unassuming, looking like the feline Grimm he'd seen many times before, but with the bone plating coating most of its hide- an old one, certainly. The unsettling thing, and what got to him, was a weapon it carried in its mouth.

Ozpin's cane.

* * *

 **I wanted to save you all from the description of Ooblecks gruesome death at the hands of this... _Special_ Grimm since the details get kinda... Gorey. Fortunately, he doesn't have to endure it for very long.**

 **Many of your questions will be answered in the chapters, even though they doesn't take place at Jericho, since at least some of the ramifications will carry over. Unfortunately, it's 11:55 at the time I am writing this, and I don't feel like having to say I was a day late in the authors section. So, instead, I will wrap up by saying that I will run another QA on this chapter. Feel free to PM me or leave a review to ask your questions.**

 **Have a good one.**


	20. On Your Beck And Squall

**Any of you know how to compose music? I've written the lyrics to a few songs, and it would be awesome if they could be made into genuine songs. I'm pretty much broke, so I couldn't pay you outright, but if it actually makes money, I'd be more than happy to give that to you.**

 **The details can obviously be handled elsewhere, so just hit me up whenever.**

 **As for the chapter title, I was originally planning to use Calm Before The Storm, but then I realized it lacked the signature ice theme that I've been working with. I tried to replace one of the words, the biggest attempt being with Calm, but it just never worked out.**

 **Fortunately, this chapter already featured a subplot that worked rather well with another ice related term.**

 **Heh. This time it _is_ a pun.**

 **And to those ladies out there looking for a good time? Squall me.**

* * *

On any other day, Winter would have been enthused to be having lunch with her sister, but... The subject matter hardly helped. Reports of Ironwoods death were out within hours, even though no body had ever been located, and paranoia reigned supreme. It was all she could do to comfort her sister with a spun up tale of an assassin being taken out within moments of Ironwoods swift and painless death.

It was far from the truth, but nobody else even knew what that truth was. Once her fear of Vale falling had been put aside, she'd put in place proper procedure for such a... Tradjedy, for it could not be called anything less.

Ironwood had desired cremation, as he thought it a waste to take up a swath of land for himself, and so she'd returned below ground to fully incinerate his corpse. The ashes remained in a box, to be disposed of later.

He deserved the best, and so his ashes would be used in the growth of a memorial tree back in Atlas. At the academy, if she had any say in the matter.

But that was weeks away. Her new commander- Ironwood's lieutenant, for no promotions had been dolled out yet- had continued his leaders orders that the specialists protect Vale and Beacon from all harm. This sentiment was mirrored by Glynda Goodwitch, who was acting headmaster until Ozpin's return, and the councils of both nations.

That didn't make this any less of a chaotic mess, however. With the most recognizable Vale and Atlas authorities indisposed, there was a demand for leadership, and it felt an almost moral obligation to see a proper leader take their place. It would be all too easy to see Jacques or some other influential political figure swoop in and claim the position for themselves.

Even just the stress of figuring out _how_ to do such a task was draining, and it was a small comfort that she could at least confine in Weiss, if only in this.

"You might notice an increase in Atlesian activity in the coming weeks, both due to the Vytal festival and the recent events," Winter said, trying to explain away the Atlesian knights roaming the campus and- in particular- the two soldiers standing at attention by their table.

Weiss took it in stride, as usual, and seemed far more concerned about the tournament itself than anything. "Wouldn't that just add fuel to the political fire? It wasn't exactly any of our faults for the events of today, but everyone saw the White Fang, and the general sentiment in Vale is that Atlas is at fault for their extremism."

They were pretty much right, then. Mistral and Vacuo both had legal discrimination- albeit with Vacuo being a lapse in law rather than being written in- but it was easy to see Atlas as the problem. While not technically true, since they had actually outlawed such things after the Faunus Right Revolution seventy years back, there was no denying that the anti-faunus ideal was pervasive there.

And it was mostly the SDC's fault, too. Or, rather, Jacques.

"There's not a whole lot the military or Vale can do about it, Weiss. They were only able to delay the festival a day, and even that had some major unrest from the populace." Winter sighed, running a hand through her hair. "Maximizing security is the best we will be able to offer."

Weiss nodded once, a smile gracing her lips. It was small- the kind she'd been taught to give to be polite- and it was that which gave away her true thoughts. "I thank you for the meal, Winter. It was... Nice," she said, standing up.

The brief pause did not go unnoticed, but Winter didn't comment on it. Nothing about what they'd discussed could be called pleasant, so she merely rose to join her sister. "Allow me to escort you to your dorm. I haven't had the chance to meet with your team."

She shook her head, taking a moment to stack her tea cup and saucer on her empty plate. "We planned to get in one last team training session today before the matches tomorrow. We can't really relax at a time like this. I'm sure you understand."

"Very well, then," Winter conceded, giving her one last look of support as she began to leave. "I look forward to your victory, then, for I shall be waiting to meet you all in the stands."

To meet everyone except for Jaune, of course, but... The less said on him the better. She would support her sister in their relationship, as anything less would be an insult, but the buffoon could certainly use some work.

 _Actually..._ She thought, an idea suddenly forming in her head. _Perhaps it's best we meet again._

Just because Weiss didn't try and refine him doesn't mean he should stay a ruffian all his life. As Weiss' sister, it was almost her duty to bring him up to speed, whatever the cost. To him, of course.

Winter blinked, having missed Weiss' parting words, along with her vanishing into one of the schools many cooridors. One of the accompanying soldiers followed behind, the other looking to her expectantly.

Hopefully it wasn't something important.

"Cylic, was it?" The man watching her from against a nearby wall nodded. "I shall retire to the airship for now. You are relieved of duty."

He made to argue, but a stern glare from her sent him walking off- though he did give her a few glances as he left.

 _One moment, James._

* * *

Pyrrha sighed under her breath, but kept a smile on her face as her team discussed the Vytal Festival.

She was obviously going through the whole thing, and very well might win the tournament for the team. That wasn't really the problem, though, because she knew how much everyone wanted to win, and Ruby and Nora had infectious enthusiasm- enough so to actually get Ren cheering with them.

The Vytal Festival wasn't just any tournament, however. It was an international competition that would be seen everywhere. She was already famed across Mistral, which was why she came here. If she competed and won- as a first year, no less- there would be no such escape.

But could she jeopardize her team like that?

No. That answer came pretty quickly. She would not throw her teams dream into the wastebin just because she despised her own status. However, she'd still prefer if someone else went into the singles matches... How to justify that, though? It was pretty well known that she was the best fighter here.

Within the year, much less her team. Ruby and Nora were strong in their own ways, but raw experience and the utterly broken results of her semblance and the ubiquity of metal weapons made her incontestable.

There simply was no escape- none that she could see, at least. She could battle most first year _teams_ by herself, so unless she got put up against some purely melee fourth year or something else as ludicrous, she would win the tournament and become an international sensation.

Yay...

"So, what do you think, Pyrrha?"

She stared at Ruby, having missed pretty much the entire conversation in her thoughts. "Huh?"

"We were talking about combo attacks," their fearless leader pouted. "The latest one was for you and Nora, and had to do with Nora's semblance. Ren and I would cover for you two for a moment while you zap her."

Pyrhha raised an eyebrow. "I move metal- how is that gonna hit her with a lightning bolt?"

"That's just it! Electricity and magnetism are basically the same thing, so if you can make and manipulate one, you can make and manipulate the other!"

The- the same thing? Pyrhha looked up, the cogs in her mind whirring as a look of realization passed over her. It was called electromagnetism for a reason- they were inextricably linked forces. Electricity always creates a magnetic field, and the same applied in reverse.

She could not only manipulate her opponents weapons and armor, along with her own, but create and control lightning.

Her head fell into her hands. _No! This is not what I want!_

More power? More abilities!? She was already the Invincible Girl- she didn't need this.

A hand fell on her shoulder in a show of support from Ren, ever steadfast in his calm smile. Great- just great- they were mistaking her reaction for her shaming herself for being an idiot who didn't know what her semblance did.

Okay, she was doing that, but she wouldn't be holding her head in her hands over it.

"I'm fine," she said, straightening back up. "That certainly sounds like an option." Funnily enough, that might actually be a solution to their problem. While the powerup to Nora would definitely be an advantage, Ren and Ruby would both be put at risk. If they both lost in a 4v4 match, they could very well lose against a proper team.

She smiled just a little.

Maybe.

* * *

"The most important part of the Vytal Festival, for the first two matches, is going to be team synergy," Weiss explained, standing before the bed Jaune, Yang, and Blake sat on. "As first years, we are already at a disadvantage, and will need to instead split them off to avoid theirs. As individuals, we should fair well, and Yang should be able to demolish some weaker opponent. The rest of us have ways to delay the fight and break their lines, so we simply need to pick out our targets when the round starts."

The plan was lacking in specific details, but that would depend on the people they went up against, so... It was next to impossible to actually make a plan. Given the information they had, it was the best she could come up with.

Her team certainly seemed to think it was a good idea, as they all gave her a few nods of agreement.

"Are you still unable to join us in the doubles, Weiss?"

She turned to the speaker- Yang- with a raised eyebrow. "What do you mean?"

Yang took a moment to form the words in her head, but eventually just looked her in the eye and voice her concerns. "After our mission, the doctors ruled that you wouldn't fight in the Vytal festival as much as possible. They cleared you for the first round with the understanding that you'd be taking it relatively easy."

"Oh..."She'd honestly forgotten about that, but it hardly mattered now. "Once I was made an Atlesian patient rather than a Valian one, their orders ceased to matter. As you can see, I am alive and well, and should I avoid any major injuries in the first fight, I should be good to go on."

Yang swallowed.

 _Odd..._

"Is that everything?" Weiss asked, probing her.

The blond chuckled, the tone completely off from normal. "Yeah, everything's fine... I was just wondering who would accompany you."

Ah... That was actually an interesting question. Yang would definitely fair better once they got to the singles, and Jaune would be better in the doubles thanks to his ability to protect her as she bombarded the opposing team, but you had to send someone from the doubles into the final matches.

Of course it didn't take any time at all to realize that wasn't what she meant.

"Are you nervous about the tournament?" she asked, calmly. It would make sense- hell, she was a bit anxious about their match as well, seeing as they had no foreknowledge on what it would be like- but this was also Yang Xiao Long, the girl who, without hesitation, willingly turned her back on a pair of criminal huntsman to tackle Blake off a building. There had to be more to it than that.

She agreed. "Not really, no. It's more, uh..." She intermittently turned between Jaune and Weiss, expression as vague as ever.

Somehow, Jaune was the first to catch on. Or, if Blake did, she chose not to say anything.

"You think we should do it as a couple?" he asked, pointing between the two of them.

Yang nodded, smiling sheepishly.

That... Wasn't a bad idea, even in and of itself. It would be a good way to solve a bunch of political problems, actually. As an heiress, she wasn't new to suitors either being brought to her or approaching of their own accord. If she could publicly display someone strong to all four nations, not even Jacques could get in the way of that.

They would have a few days to train Jaune up for the singles matches as well. He certainly had the conditioning for it, and his semblance would be almost impossible to deal with if it wasn't revealed before hand. Jaune may have lacked the skill based training they'd taken with their weapons before coming to Beacon, but he only had to defeat a single opponent.

The more she thought about it, the more the idea sounded amazing- especially if Jaune won the whole thing for the team. The only threat they could pin down was Pyrrha, but being put up against her was basically inevitable, but they could always look into the fight later.

"We're in," she said, finally. It felt like a weight suddenly dropped off her shoulders. A plan, and one that solved everything it could.

Perfection.

"That only leaves one thing left to do before tomorrow- more sparring." They all turned to her as she surveyed the group, taking a moment to decide how to work this. "We'll practice in solo for now, since that's the plan for the first fight. Since Jaune and Yang can fight for ages, I guess that leaves you two fighting one another, and Blake..." she trailed off, letting her fill in the rest. "Let's get going."

* * *

Ozpin's office felt empty with him out on his mission. Regardless, a meeting had to be conducted immediately, and that wasn't really affected by the headmasters absence.

Winter stood behind Ozpin's desk, just beside his chair, as she took up a position similar to what she'd normally do for Ironwood. It was stiff, but that hardly mattered. Glynda had taken her here and specified that it would normally be Ironwoods responsibility.

If she was to prevent others from taking the mans place, she might as well know what he was up to.

Which is why it was agonizing waiting. The meeting, at least according to Glynda, should have started twenty minutes ago, but a certain smarmy, arrogant, drunk piece of-

The elevator dinged, signalling his arrival.

 _Finally._

"I'm here!" he pointlessly announced as he stepped into the room. For once, he wasn't drunk, but that didn't seem to help with his infinite ability to piss her off. Qrow took a few more steps, taking the time to look Glynda up and down- noting her crossed arms and narrowed eyes- before he turned to her.

That seemed to give him a start, and he actually took a step back before turning to Glynda. "What the hell is she doing here?!" he barked, gesturing vaguely in her direction.

A tick formed over Winter's right eye, but before she could exact revenge, Glynda tore the fight out of him with four simple words. "She's the new maiden."

It looked like a gut punch hit him, and he actually bent over slightly as he clutched his rips with one arm. He recovered well, though, or rather surrendered to Glynda and Winter's combined glares.

"How does she even know what that is!?" Qrow demanded, flipping between the two with shock still present in his face. "The only people who knew were me, you, Ozpin, and Iro..." He paused. "Ironwood made her the maiden, didn't he."

Winter nodded, the tiniest of a smile forming at his overly dramatic fall to his knees. He looked up at her, genuinely pained, as he silently mouthed a single word over and over. _Why._ Unfortunately, she couldn't actually answer that, but Qrow certainly deserved a little despair after all the crap he put her through, so he wouldn't be hearing that from her.

Eventually, with a 'little' help from Glynda, Qrow rose back up to his feet and met her eyes. "And what do you plan to do now?" he asked, giving her a quick onceover.

She chuckled slightly before the rest of that breath came out in a sigh. "What I've always done- protect Atlas- and the rest of the world," she hastily added when Qrow narrowed his eyes," from the forces that conspire against it. If this power will help me, then... Pity them."

Qrow actually smiled at that, but it was short lived as he realized just who he was amused by. "Has the plan for the military changed any?"

Winter shook her head. "The military will continue to guard Beacon and Amity, and will actually be increasing security during the days of the fights. Without Ironwood, however, we are lacking a representative to speak publicly. The ordinary citizens of Vale don't know of the tragedy, fortunately, but..."

They understood, as shown by the slightly lowering of their heads.

"Is there a line of succession?" Qrow asked, turning to look out to the window to the giant flagship circling the school. "No military would voluntarily be leaderless in the event of assassination or the like."

That was true, but the line of succession was more a tree, root system. Three different military figures and two different political figures had a stake in the race, and it would be up to the council to decide on the actual new general.

And they were damn good at twiddling their thumbs, so it should be at least a few weeks before anyone claimed that role. There wasn't exactly an emergency, after all, and they didn't want to make another 'mistake' like picking another Ironwood.

"A successor shall be named, but I will be the highest position officer on Amity for the duration of the festival. Consider me one of two acting generals for the time being."

"And the other?" he asked, raising one eyebrow at her curiously.

"We will have to find out later. The council should have sent someone to arrive before the tournament itself begins."

He shrugged. "Alright. I'll be looking out for him."

* * *

 _"Thank you all for coming!"_ Port shouted to the crowd over the intercom. _"For those of you just tuning in, the second match has been decided- Team JWBY, or Team Jabberwocky, from Beacon Academy vs Team OSRA, or Team Osiria, from Shade!"_

Cheers washed over the stadium as the contestants strode to the center of the stage. The eight figures, each armed with a unique arsenal, stared one another down as the crowd looked on.

 _"Before we begin, I would like to give a quick shout out to our co-commentator thanks to his impressive performance last match. While he's new to this scene, he has been a public figure in Atlas for many years. Can everyone put their hands together to welcome Arthur Watts to the Beacon family?"_

* * *

 **Hahahahahahahahahahaha!**

 **I am just dying over here as I drop that cliffhanger in there. Originally, I'd planned to bring him up at the start of the first match next chapter, but... Well, I couldn't resist. It's just so terrible and hilarious on my end.**

 **The next 2+ chapters should consist of the 4v4 fights I find relevant along with whatever tertiary things I feel like bringing in. Obviously, lots of things will be happening in the background, but it's difficult to reference them without spoiling my plans for the future.**

 **Hopefully that doesn't become an issue. I would like to keep to a plan from start to finish for once.**

 **On a related note, there will be a chapter break after both the 4v4s and the 2v2s. They won't, however, be just filler.**

 **Some might notice an inconsistency between the two parts with Winter in them, and to you people, good job, but it's not actually an issue. The General and the head of the Specialists are actually two different positions, though Ironwood occupied both at the same time.**

 **And that is all. Tchuss!**


	21. Kuraokami

**I may have slightly overestimated my ability to come up with ice/winter puns... This is still a reference to it, but it is not a pun. I apologize for my failure.**

* * *

 _"And Team Jabberwocky deals the first blow!"_ Port cheered from into his microphone. Some cheers followed, but a general confusion filled the rest of it as murmurs went through the crowd.

For good reason too. _"The arena hasn't even been picked yet,"_ Arthur sighed, shaking his head in resignation. _"Please refrain from showing blatant favoritism as well. We all heard you last round."_ Seriously- the oaf could learn to think through his words a little. He was like a disease that rotted away at the mind with every word out of his mouth.

At least the audience seemed to enjoy it... Somehow. He was boisterous, and that might very well be enough when he wasn't the main attraction.

 _Speaking of..._ Arthur turned his gaze back to the contestants, now gathered on the small circle at the center of the arena. He knew little about either team- though he obviously knew quite a bit about the Schnee girl. It wouldn't do to ignore an heiress to his greatest political rival.

She had wisely rejected her fathers tutelage, and that had caught his interest. Perhaps she could be useful...

The chime associated with the terrain roulette pulled him out of his thoughts. Within seconds, one side of the arena had conjured a ruined cityscape. Dilapidated buildings- the structures too small to do more than imitate reality- stood empty and dark.

A quick whir of the lottery on the other side and a partially melted crag pulled itself from the depths. Orange and brown rocks glowed with scalding heat and flows of magma made their way into the ground.

The teams just walked- as one- into the city.

 _Smart._

* * *

 _"Begin!"_ Port sounded, as if it was necessary.

Team JWBY huddled within a 'skyscraper'- Jaune calling that since the light grey building was just one big empty room stacked up eight times. They were on the third floor now, crouched away from any of the many glass-less windows. Their team was out of sight, but they couldn't see the enemy either.

That was fine. Ambushing them wasn't a good plan, given that aura almost completely negated the instant takedowns they'd have been aiming for.

"I'll take to the streets," Jaune said. He turned to each of them, laying down a set of simple instructions. "Blake, stick to high places and try to take on anyone above. With your semblance and fighting style, you'd be good against any long range fighter they're trying to keep back. Yang, stay hidden in the buildings near me. If someone approaches from behind, bear down on them."

He turned to Weiss.

"Have fun."

To anyone else, that might have sounded sarcastic, but it wasn't. In this environment, her Dust attacks would be almost unstoppable. She couldn't bathe an entire arena in ice, but a street? How about roasting a floor of a building?

Enclosed spaces were a playground to Myrtenaster.

Jaune took a moment to place a pair of headphones on his ears. He'd tested it earlier, and he wasn't completely deaf. His power differentiated between outwardly caused sound and inwardly, so he could still hear his heart racing or his own heavy breathing.

He could also hear music- from headphones specifically. A simple click on his scroll and The Man Who Speaks In Hands began to chime away in his ears. The opening track set him on edge almost instantly, and the paranoia it brought might very well keep him safe in the coming moments.

With a nod, Jaune split from the group. He ran to one end of the building- the opposite side as his opponents- to keep their location hidden after his reveal.

And then he lept out into the open air.

Gravity took hold, sending him quickly downwards. He landed easily, rolling to his feet, and seamlessly transitioned into a sprint. He moved to the side, entering one of the larger streets, and barreled towards the enemy.

Crocea Mors, or the new version of it anyway, sang as it left its sheathe. He left his shield in that form, for now, as it could still surprise someone further in. Instead, he pulled it off his hip and wielded it like a second sword, albeit in a reverse grip.

The enemy- Team Osiria- remained hidden. Much like his team, they appeared to be inside.

All except for one. Ogen, as Port called him in his narration, calmly stood a good thirty feet away. He was a seven foot tall beast of a man, wielding a serrated axe in each hand and wearing only a lengthy kilt, brown leather boots, and a large dragon-adorned belt. He was clearly dressed for warmer weather, though he hardly seemed bothered by the cool breeze of the floating stadium.

He smiled, too, a vicious tilt to his lips that exposed sharp teeth where there shouldn't have been any.

And then Ogen charged, monstrously large strides carrying him forward at speeds that would have them meet within seconds.

Jaune took a deep breath, but kept moving towards the barbarian. He had taken this role, and he would damn well live up to it.

However, he only said he'd distract and outlast the target. He never said specifically how.

Ogen was more than a little surprised when Jaune simply rolled past his charge, leaving him barreling a bit further down the empty street. He gnashed his teeth, whipping around as he skid to a stop, and spotted his prey still running away. With a growl, he charged after, his muscular legs allowing him to make up the distance quickly.

* * *

Samirah watched as Ogen pursued his unfortunate target. He wouldn't need help, and would actually feel insulted if she gave him any, and so instead turned back to the streets. They were empty now, which was of no surprise. Her team was in the buildings too.

They acted as cover, but for both sides. While she stood by a window, exposing herself slightly, the others stood nearby, waiting for some kind of signal. While Ogen would never wait for someone to come to him, patience mattered a lot when dealing with unknown people.

Speaking of- the blonde girl showed herself for a second as she transitioned to the first floor of another building.

Wordlessly, Samirah nodded, signalling for the other two to move down. She, in turn, raised her rifle up to rest on the windowsill. Longinus took a moment to adjust to the wind and air pressure, but within seconds, it was ready to go.

She took a breath, lowering her eye into the scope. With her pace, she should show in three... Two... One...

 **Boom.**

Longinus fired- the shot blazing through the air well beyond the speed of sound. Chaotic mixes of dust fought for superiority as it flew before, after a tense instant of silence, it landed, exploding into a rainbow ball of destruction.

Samirah lept backwards, her rifle transforming into the spear it was named after. She narrowed her eyes at the black haired girl before her- she'd ruined the shot, kicking the barrel up.

Then she'd have to go first.

* * *

Yang smirked as an explosion rocked the building beside her. It would appear Blake had found her mouse.

And she'd found two.

Ember Celica roared to life as she lunged forward. The two split apart, diving out of the way, but that only brought a smile to Yangs lips.

A wall of ice sprung up between her and one of the enemy. Weiss had found her opponent.

Ralis, as Port called him, took one look at her and wilted. Yang smiled, lowering her knees to enter a fighting stance.

This would be fun.

* * *

Jaune threw himself into one of the buildings, using the momentary cover to scramble back up to his feet.

Ogen surged in after him, just busting in one of the walls instead of using the empty doorway. Jaune didn't have it in him to complain, though, and simply raised his weapons into a ready stance. They were far enough away now... Even if he lost, Ogen would be too far away to assist his team before one of the others claimed a victory.

Now it was just him and the jacked viking. Great.

Noting that he'd stopped running away, Ogen paused, watching him carefully. He flourished his axes a little, spinning them in his hands with practiced ease. Then, without warning, his hand whipped forward and launched one at him.

Jaune raised his blade to meet the spinning ax, catching it on the edge. He swatted it downward, embedding it into the ground, before raising his sword back up.

Ogen had dashed after his ax, and his second swung downward with far greater force than the first. Jaunes guard crumbled almost instantly, and he was forced to sidestep to avoid Ogen's ramming shoulder.

As he moved, Jaune lashed out with his blade. It hit the mans defenseless back, but failed to do any real damage. That attack cost him, as he couldn't bring Crocea Mors out to block Ogen's backswing.

The ax caught him in the chest, and it stung slightly, but he was equally unaffected as his opponent. Ogen seemed to realize this, and with a brief duck to grab his other weapon, he lept back to create some distance.

Jaune was more than happy to oblige, the lull in the battle merging seamlessly with the tempo of the music blaring in his ears.

His opponents lips moved, though Jaune heard nothing of it. That seemed to upset him, and his axes were raised once more.

Smiling, Jaune charged.

It took a moment for Ogen to react, and that was all Jaune needed. As he entered melee, he spread his arms, the sheathe and blade of Crocea Mors forcing the offending weapons to the side. Then, dropping them, Jaune severed his own balance and moved downwards.

Ax heads met above his head uselessly, and Jaune took that instant to lunge for the mans hips.

The man didn't fall in to a tackle, but rather flipped over Jaune's back as his center of gravity was pulled over him. Jaune followed up, falling backwards to crash into the mans chest.

Neither seemed hurt by the maneuver, at least meaningfully, but that wasn't really the plan. Much like the weapon Nora's hammer was named for, Jaune was completely immovable to Ogen.

In the last moment of vulnerability, Jaune splayed his hands outward, and just managed to pin his arms as well. He smiled, noting his opponents complete inability to rise.

And that was how they stayed.

* * *

Samirah used Longinus as a lever to launch herself away from her opponent, gaining just enough distance to transform the weapon. The scope went unused as she popped two shots off and fell back.

Her opponent merely flipped up into the air, using the ceiling of the building as a platform with which to leap back into melee.

Growling, Samirah swung her rifle out in a wide arc. Her opponent ducked back, ever so slightly, so that the barrel passed by in front of her.

A pull of the trigger, and a tiny ball of chaos shot at her from point blank, but yet again, a phantom took the blow in her place.

Blake kicked up from below, landing a heel to her chin. With an audible crunch, Samirah flew backwards, crashing onto the ground some distance away. With her speed, however, there was no way her opponent wouldn't get there before she got up.

So she didn't bother to stand. Instead, she rolled to the side- narrowly avoiding a blade that embedded itself into the concrete beside her. Samirah took that instant to swing her feet around, using her arms to root her down and sweep her opponents legs.

The attack was an ineffectual as the last twelve, and it left yet another opening for punishment. Blake flung the ribbon of her weapon out, wrenching Longinus away with a harsh tug. Samirah grimaced, but was forced to leave it behind to escape a followup kick to her head.

Her opponent slid forward, blade outstretched in a way that left her massively over extended. It was a trap, obviously, but she was fast running out of options.

Leaping forward from all fours, Samirah skirted just past a sword swing from below which pierced into the illusion left behind as Blake shot up.

That left her towards her weapon, but with precious seconds before Blake took it away again. Frantically, Samirah barreled across the ground, clearing the distance between her and Longinus faster than she'd first thought possible.

As her hands wrapped around its haft, however, a ribbon made itself known around her throat.

Longinus flared with electricity as she swung it back around her, aiming it in the direction Blake had to be, but as it passed her midsection, her attack had been nullified once more.

A simple kick to her wrist had the weapon slipping from her grip and sliding a small distance away- too far with her neck still encased in black cloth.

"I yield," she groaned, allowing for Blake to uncoil the weapon from her neck. Recognizing the words, a giant X crossed out her name on the board outside the stadium, and she was marked as defeated. A flash of regret shone through her for her failure, but the result wouldn't have changed. She was screwed, and would only have lasted long enough for Blake to choke her out.

A sigh escaped Samirah as she looked back at Blake. Her semblance- The One Eye- had been completely outclassed by a simple problem: the clones. She hit them without fail, but that would never lead to victory against Blake.

Speaking of, the woman stood, gave her a brief smile, and disappeared.

Now if she was a ninja, she might have had a chance.

* * *

Yang whooped loudly as her punch sent another shockwave rippling through Ralis' shield. He was armed with a tower shield and bladed pistol, of a similar design to Ren's weapon, but he was clearly unable to deal with her sheer ferocity.

Which only made it all the more fun to beat him around.

An upward angled punch lifted the shield ever so slightly off the ground. It was enough, though, as Yang jammed one of her boots into the gap before kicking up.

Her opponent fell back as his shield was shot upwards, and though he kept hold of it, the actual defense of it was lost for a moment. Yang smirked, firing off two quick blasts from Ember Celica into his exposed side before dashing back in.

Ralis bat her first blow aside with his arm, and lowered his shield into the way of the second, but that left him unable to see her flip up and over him. He reacted quickly, spinning around to block, but a pair of blows to his left elbow and shoulder had him reeling.

She followed up relentlessly, ducking into his guard to place a blow under his rib cage before slamming a much stronger attack directly into his sternum. He shot back, lifting off the ground from the impact, and she was already upon him before he landed.

A spin kick sent his shield skittering away- too far for him to retrieve- and she kept too close for him to even achieve his balance. Ralis attempted to roll away, but another punch to the ground forced him to remain still for but a moment.

Yang pounced, cocking her fist back for the finishing blow.

That never came. An instant before impact, a burst of energy radiated from the man, throwing her backwards and giving him just enough time to climb to his feet.

Now standing, he eyed her warily, raising his weapon up before him defensively. It wouldn't protect him- not from her punches- but it could let him distract her long enough to get his shield back.

Despite how it may have appeared, she wasn't only a berserker, and she saw through that plan a mile away. Yang rose back up to her feet, and- a little shakily due to cartwheels she'd totally meant to do in the air- she circled around towards the shield.

Ralis took a moment to gauge her change in tactics, but with the briefest of glances towards his shield, he settled on going on the offensive.

As he approached, Yang relaxed. It was artificial, and they both knew it if his eyes were anything to go by, but he wasn't willing to give up even a trapped opportunity to bring his only real defensive option back.

However, even when he entered dashing range, Yang didn't attack. Instead, she lifted one foot, and stomped on the shield.

It flew into the air before her, and without a moments pause, she unloaded an explosive shell into its side.

He didn't have time to dodge, and with a metallic clang, his aura dropped into the red.

* * *

Weiss was having trouble.

Ordinarily, that would have sounded impossible, but she was. Despite having complete control over the environment, that didn't seem to matter to her particular opponent. She was clearly Atlesian, despite coming from Shade, so she likely transferred from the prep school she'd attended.

Which meant, with her fighting style barely changing since her arrival in Beacon, she knew everything she was capable of.

The girl ran circles around her, laughing all the time, as she used the ice walls and spikes as platforms and simply ducking for cover whenever something else came her way.

It was just so infuriating! And she hadn't even shown her semblance yet, either!

On top of that, Altairis' had a completely insane weapon design, on the level of Ruby's sniper-scythe, except with an incredibly specific purpose built into it. It wasn't ranged, exactly, but she had a set of claws built into the tops of her gauntlets. They could shoot out with lengthy tethers which she could use both as bladed whips or as grapples. They were also retractable, so whenever she was cornered, she could just shoot up towards one of the buildings.

Weiss conjured another wall of ice before her, blocking another swipe of the extended blades, but the cracks already spread across it like a spider web from the single strike. After the second, she was forced to use a glyph to shoot upwards.

Ice shattered outwards beneath her, but the height gave her a moment to at least get her bearings. A quick glance confirmed that at least Yang had won her fight by now- good- she just needed to get her opponent into a good position before her teammate revealed herself.

The universe seemed almost happy to oblige, with Altairis swinging in a wide arc to enter melee with her airborne self. Weiss feigned fear as she pointed Myrtenaster down where, at the last second, a spray of white reached to the floor.

A wall shot up between them, forcing Altairis to stop suddenly before she slammed into the construct. That was a mistake on her end, as not a second later, Yang appeared behind her to slam a fist directly into her back.

The force of the impact shot her through the wall of ice, and as it collapsed around her, a glyph formed beneath her.

It took a moment to trigger, as it always did, but that was fine; Altairis wasn't going anywhere.

 _"Oh! What an impressive ring out from Miss Schnee!"_

Weiss smirked slightly at the narration before turning up to the screen. It seemed each of them was stable, even if her and Blake's Auras were both low.

Only Ogen remained, and they were more than able to deal with him as a team.

* * *

 _"What an incredible victory!"_ Port shouted, and Arthur had to agree with him for once. While only two of them had actually won a straight fight, they'd shown commendable strength and tactics and it was a team oriented battle in the first place.

Jaune getting help from all three of his comrades seemed a bit much for him, but he had certainly lasted a while. If only the interior of the buildings had cameras... The absence of footage left both them and the audience completely unaware of what had happened.

The boy didn't seem worse for wear, and both he and Ogen had taking barely any damage before the rest of team Jabberwocky arrived, so... Did they have a stalemate?

Arthur narrowed his eyes slightly, watching as he left the stage. He was someone to keep watch on, with their plans. Anyone who could keep someone as physically powerful as Ogen in place for that long could be a threat.

He couldn't teleport or anything else that ridiculous, and the last thing he needed was to be caught. Same went for Cinders underlings.

This would be a lot more complicated than he first thought... Though not impossible. He had a lot of resources at his disposal, even if many of the pieces didn't know it yet. Now if only he could identify the maiden candidate... Ozpin would surely have one by now, with the Breach and all that entailed.

He only really needed to convince one person to join him.

Only one.

* * *

 **Guests are tiring... Ugh... This chapter is probably coming out just past midnight, and I'm sorry about that, but most of you shouldn't be able to read it until morning anyway. Hopefully I'm not inconveniencing you.**

 **So, this fight is meant to be 'mostly' a breeze. RWBY was always powerful, and arguably the weakest one in an arena setting is Ruby since her fighting style is incompatible with the main advantages of her weapon. With Jaune, now with Juggernauts helmet, in her stead... Yeah, they'd trash most teams, especially with a plan that actually works to their advantage.**

 **Sorry if you expected a tight and close battle. The only fight that would be difficult would normally be Jaune vs Ogen, but a semblance that lets you to conditionally move faster isn't much help against a Mjolnir to the chest.**

 **On a side note, no, Jaune will not win the rest of his fights like this. Ogen only lost due to A, surprise, and B, being an entirely close range fighter. Someone with better skills, foreknowledge, or a slightly more distant range would not be susceptible to the same attack.**

 **Additionally, he needed to do more than just get him down. Ogen still had the ability to move his arms, and by extension the axes, so he had to hold down the arms until his team eventually arrived.**

 **To anyone who asks, I added an Aura cost to Blake's semblance. She was never actually hit by an attack, unlike Weiss.**


	22. Blown Away

**Much like Jericho, this chapter doesn't feature Weiss, and so the chapter title convention will not be present.**

 **Let the games begin.**

* * *

"Man, that fight was awesome!" Ruby squealed. The girl, as energetic as ever, lept of into the air in celebration of their victory. Nora saw fit to cheer as well, lifting her hammer into the air while shouting 'yeah!'

Pyrrha shook her head, but smiled at them. They'd done well, and everyone but Ren had beaten their opponent in a landslide.

Herself included.

The smile fell as she looked back towards the Coliseum. It was easily visible out their dorm window, as it slowly circled Vale; a constant reminder of what was happening. What was going to happen.

Her lips curled up again, before anyone had noticed, and she turned back to her team. They wouldn't understand... Of course they wouldn't. Ren and Nora had been orphans before Beacon, and had clear and defined weaknesses. Ruby had a claim to fame with her age, but it was hardly unique, and that actually put her in a worse position against the students here.

And then there was her- The Invincible Girl. Born into a rich and influential family, and then made as strong as possible through the Mistral tournament circuit. She was a public figure, and even if she hadn't, the whole world would have just born witness to her power.

Despite being lenient on her opponent, she hadn't been so much as touched.

* * *

 _The arena lottery had already wrapped up- filling the stadium with a desert opposite a snowy forest. It seemed... Wrong, really, to have both sides be completely random. There was nowhere in the world these two would exist in close proximity._

 _But that was for another time. If Pyrhha really cared, she could just bring it up with the Atlesian company that built the place._

 _Both teams chose to take the desert to start, though Pyrhha herself stood back on the circular platform. Noticing this, one of the Shade students stayed behind as well. Their face didn't shown any recognition, so they probably didn't realize how bad an idea that was._

 _Which only played to her advantage... Unfortunately._

 _The man, for he was apparently a third year- and therefore 20 or 21 years old- wore a full suit of armor. It lacked a helmet, which seemed like a glaring oversight, but black plates with silver trim covered the entire rest of his body. It was heavy, if his comparatively sluggish movements were of any indication, but it looked completely bulletproof, even before accounting for the shield he carried on top of that._

 _It was a kite shield, much like the one she'd used many years back, and a silver eagle emblem was build into the face of it. The most ridiculous part of his getup, however, was the sword. It wasn't particularly monstrous, like one of the second years she'd seen who lugged around a blade the size of him- and likely just as heavy- but it looked equally unusable. The guard was too wide- stretching nearly 10 inches from the handle, and bending twice in its length._

 _Fragility was hardly desired, especially when the lengthy blade would all but guarantee constant blows crashing down on it._

 _Pyrrha sighed under her breath, but looked him in the eye with a small smile. He tried to return it, but instead frowned at her and glared, as if insulted somehow, before readying himself._

 _"Begin!" Port shouted, and just like that, Pyrrha was on him. There was no gap in time, and the sound of_ _Miló knocking his blade aside was his only warning before she swung around her other arm, slamming her buckler into the mans face._

 _He stumbled backwards, raising left elbow up to cover his face. That was a mistake, and one she capitalized upon in an instant. With his shield arm raised up, and by extension his guard broken before she even struck again, she went uncontested as she dove past him._

 _His reflexes kicked in, and he tried to swing his sword around as he turned, but she merely parried it upwards before, with a simple twist of her spears handle, she embedded it into the gap under his armpit._

 _A cry escaped him, but she continued, forcing her weapon up. Thanks to his Aura, it didn't cut into his arm directly, but the movement still crippled his balance as one side of his body was moved upwards._

 _Ducking low, she swept one leg across, kicking out his other. He toppled, crashing to the ground, and it was a simple act to bring her weapon to his neck before he recovered._

 _Blue eyes stared back at her in fear as he raised his arms up, discarding his weapons in the process. He surrendered then and there, keeping his eyes locked on her the entire time._

* * *

No semblance- and not even using the additional forms of her weapon- yet she'd blown her opponent away within seconds. With her team on her side, the other three had fallen, and the round was out within a minute.

A record for Vale, though apparently not breaking one set in Shade over forty years ago- as if that was any consolation.

The worst part was that the victory was entirely her fault. She knew the competitive instinct would be difficult to resist- it always had been- but she'd assured herself that she could for the sake of her life here. The instant the fight began...

She offered her opponent no mercy, as she tore his defense to shreds. He didn't even get a chance to call for aid, or show off his semblance- whatever it was. She still didn't even know his name, since Peter hadn't the time to mention it before he was defeated.

Pyrrha looked to each of the members of her team. They'd done well, too- but not unreasonably so. Meanwhile, she'd garnered plenty of attention, particularly from the co-commentator: Arthur Watts.

Her shoulders shuddered just remembering it.

* * *

 _"Ma'am?"_

 _Pyrrha turned to the voice, looking the man up and down. She recognized him from the brief snippets he'd been visible on the massive screens adorning the walls of the arena, though that was only a headshot. A proper view of him showed off an expensive black and yellow suit, complete with tie, undercoat, and fingerless gloves. If it wasn't for the color scheme, he'd be instantly recognizable as someone from Atlas._

 _As it stood, she still would have thanks to his hair. While the mustache was new, he had a typical Atlesian spike-cut. He even had the gray band she'd seen on the likes of James Ironwood._

 _The only thing that really stuck out was a harsh tan, implying he'd spent a long time outside his native land. That made sense, given his career in politics, and Pyrrha had to sigh as she realized exactly what he was doing here._

 _"Arthur," she greeted with a polite bow. She smiled rigidly, but, if he noticed the plastic nature of it, he deigned not to mention it._

 _"I hate to be brief," he began, taking a step forward, "but I am afraid I must be off shortly. I wish to speak with you in private soon, however. My superiors have an interest in you, and I'm sure they'd be enjoyed to gain your support."_

 _Pyrrha grit her teeth, but nodded anyway. It wouldn't do to deny someone so politically powerful, especially for a 'harmless' request._

 _She could handle a political meeting- many had been in her past, and she'd likely find herself in far more before she found a way to rid herself of them entirely._

 _"Very well, Sir Watts-"_

 _"Doctor Watts," he corrected, placing one of his gloved hands on her shoulder. "I worked hard to earn this title, and it would do to call me by it."_

 _"Very well then,_ Doctor _Watts," she said, placing extra emphasis on his prefix. "I look forward to it. When should I expect such a thing?"_

 _He pulled out his scroll, consulting something on it. The back was opaque, unlike the standard model, so she didn't get an idea exactly what he was looking at, but from his answer, she guessed it was a schedule of some kind._

 _"How is tomorrow, 3 0'clock?"_

* * *

Atlas wanted her...

Yay?

Ugh...

* * *

"You're sure this is wise, Watts?"

He took a deep breath, keeping the volume low as to avoid attention. "Absolutely. Out of those from Beacon, she is the most likely candidate, and even if she does not become the Fall Maiden, she could become a valuable asset to our ends."

"Oh?" Salem perked up at that, though he couldn't see it through both his scroll and the seer on the end of that. He really needed to get a CCT set up in the Grimmlands. "And what use is she? Outside of her strength, I mean."

"I have located one with Silver Eyes."

The other end of the line was silent for a moment. That was telling, and with an even voice, she finally spoke. "Go on."

He nodded, though it felt kind of dumb to do so after he remembered that he was out of sight as well. "Team RPNR is led by a girl named Ruby Rose. Besides having Silver Eyes, Ozpin also personally promoted her to Beacon two years early."

Salem hummed, a mixture of amusement and annoyance that only she would be able to voice. "And you think Pyrrha could be a tool to get to this Ruby?"

"I do not think, ma'am. I know."

She hummed once more, in agreement. "Alright, Watts. I will leave this matter on you for now. Thank you for informing me. Do make sure to inform me if you require any assistance. I don't wish for a repeat of the last time."

Watts smiled, choosing not to bring up that it was technically her fault they'd failed to take down a Silver Eyed Warrior, and had to go back for a second try with Tyrian of all people. "I will take my leave, then. Good day, Madam."

The call ended with a click, and Watts took a moment to straighten out his coat. He turned and-

"Oh."

An Atlesian woman stared back at him, in the uniform of a soldier. Her badges were unknown to him, implying some sort of special designation he wasn't privy to. A covert ops, perhaps? Why have a uniform at all, then?

Then again, the whole bloody planet seemed to lack common sense, so he wasn't going to question it. He did, however, have to question her.

"How much of that did you hear?"

"Only the end, sir," she answered, giving him a salute. When he didn't return it, she relaxed slightly, placing her hands at her side. "I am specialist Schnee, aid to the late James Ironwood. I do believe you are the councils temporary replacement."

Watts narrowed his eyes. He recognized her now, though the image was off due to the years she'd been off his grid. Her question was also interesting- and it was a question, despite being phrased as a statement. He didn't sense any suspicion, but there was a clear interest in her slightly narrowed eyes.

Keeping his voice even, he agreed. "I was picked to watch over the military, yes. The council wanted someone to oversee security."

He left it unsaid that he wouldn't be doing any of that, since the White Fang and Cinder's pawns would still undergo the plan. Even if he wanted to, it was too late to stop Adam now.

"I see," Winter said, raising another salute to him. "I shall be off, then. I have been requested for a meeting."

That caught his attention, but he didn't follow as she turned to leave. If his suspicions about her position were true, she would inevitably catch him. Stealth had never been his forte- even less so than fighting with his fist.

What was the point of machines if you didn't use any of them?

 _Speaking of,_ he reminded himself, gazing out towards the Atlesian Flagship. _I have another virus to upload._

* * *

Qrow sighed profusely as he waited beside Glynda, who was currently staring down the elevator with equal impatience. She hid it better than him, at least, and the only real sign was her crop slowly tapping on her thigh.

He was on time, as was fast becoming the norm here, but he couldn't take credit this time. Glynda had figuratively dragging him here by the ear.

No such thing happened to Winter, it seemed, as she was several minutes late already.

 _Finally,_ he groaned as the floor marker at the top began to ascend. Within moments, the doors were sliding open, and the new Fall Maiden strode out into the office.

"Welcome," Glynda greeted, clearly passing on the chance for a scathing remark.

He would do no such thing.

"Yeah, never expected to see you so high without a broom under you."

Winter rolled her eyes, taking the room in for a moment. Not much had changed since her last visit, except for the paperwork. With Ozpin gone, it had all been shunted onto Glynda, but she hadn't the time to deal with everything.

"It is a pleasure to meet you, Winter."

Fortunately, he was back.

"The pleasure is mine," Winter said with a bow towards the headmaster. "I believe you wanted to see me, Ozpin?"

Qrow groaned, leaning further into the wall. The summons had been clear- what was wrong with her? Protocol was one thing, but even Ironwood didn't have such a big stick up his ass.

Actually, he might be onto something there. Was that where the broom was?

He chuckled to himself, getting some odd looks from the others, but he handily ignored them as they returned to the conversation at hand. Ozpin leaned forward on his desk, holding his head atop his hands as he braced his elbows atop a small mat.

"James assigned you the power of the Fall Maiden, which was chosen to remain in Vale. This poses an issue, as you are an Atlesian officer and cannot simply shirk your duties without raising suspicion." Issue was a vast understatement. While the Winter Maiden wasn't in the military, she was already in Atlas. Grouping them up was a horrible idea, with Salem after them.

"What do you propose?" Winter asked, sparing a brief glance to Qrow to silence the quip growing in his throat. Dammit- he was getting predictable.

"Nothing major," Ozpin assured her. "For now, you were already assigned for Beacon and Amity security. That gives us a little over a week to come up with a solution."

It was then that Qrow cut in. "What about Anima's machine? Couldn't we just transfer the Maidens power again? We already had a candidate among the students, and we'll have even longer to work around it since it's a lot easier to convince the Atlesian Military to lengthen her stay than to quell the reaper."

"While that's true, I'm afraid it isn't an option." Ozpin let out a sigh, sitting straight up in his chair. "The machine Anima created was damaged in the battle between Miss Schnee and the late Cinder Fall." He shook his head when Qrow made to speak. "We can't just repair it, either. Anima did leave the blueprints, but there's nobody in Vale who can edit the designs, and it has a bit of a... Fatal flaw."

"What, does it only work once per person, or something?"

Ozpin leveled an annoyed glare on him. "No, Qrow. It literally kills one of the people in it." _Oh..._ "This wasn't an issue with Amber, as she was already on deaths door, but I don't believe Miss Schnee would consent to her own death."

To prove his point, Winter nodded, giving him a small smile.

"I wouldn't complain," Qrow whispered under his breath, but apparently it wasn't quiet enough as Winter shot him a glare a second later. He ignored it, keeping his eyes on Ozpin. "So we just leave it be for now? That seems a little... Risky."

"Please, Qrow, trust me. With the Maiden powers implanted into a new body and Cinder Fall taken down, there is no longer a real threat to the academy."

There was no way he'd believe that- Ozpin was hiding something. He wasn't obvious, like Glynda was, but the way he hid his lips behind his mug as he spoke reminded him of when he'd lied to him and Raven. He didn't begrudge him that, really, since they were genuinely unprepared for the truth at the time, but a repeat wasn't something he was looking forward to.

"And her teammates, then?" Qrow asked in an attempt to dig further.

"Oh, them? I believed they were innocent of her crimes, as they stayed behind while Mint- her partner- left." Ozpin took a deep breath before pulling out his scroll. "However, I do believe they showed their hand yesterday, wouldn't you agree?"

Qrow raised an eyebrow at that, but Ozpin merely clicked a button on his scroll. A second later, a notification pinged on his, and he whipped it open to find a video link to one of yesterdays matches.

Theirs.

Emerald Sustrai and Mercury Black vs Team SSSN. Despite being a 2v4, they'd won, and it was clear from the comment section that there was a great suspicion of foul play.

He might as well watch to find out, since Ozpin was making a big deal of it.

* * *

 _"We need to win still, don't we?"_

 _Mercury nodded, glancing over the arena. Both sides were an arid grassland, though there were some small hills on one of them. It was honestly quite boring in comparison to what he'd seen before, but it also meant they'd have no cover to rely on stealth._

 _This battle might actually be a challenge, given what he'd seen of their team in sparring and the number disparity. He took a breath, eyeing each of them individually. Three were close range fighters, or at least mid range, while Neptune stood as their only reliable marksman._

 _Despite that, he wasn't even armed with his gun at the moment, keeping whatever he called his weapon in its trident form. Given the distance between them, that was probably wise._

 _"Begin!"_

 _The oaf's shout hadn't even finished before Mercury shot forward, literally in his case, and he slammed a fist against Sun's chest. He could feel the air leave the faunus' lungs, but didn't wait around. For the instant his target was stunned, Mercury flicked one foot upwards, cracking his metal toe against Sun's jaw._

 _The kid was sent flying backwards, flipping over himself until he crashed against the rock of a distant hill. Mercury smirked, knowing that the strongest foe was out for the moment._

 _His team recovered quickly, lashing out at him with their weapons, but Mercury merely flipped upwards. As he fell back down, he span, using the guns in his legs to whip a foot into Scarlet and Sage._

 _Neptune was left standing, but his weapon would be useless against him. He stabbed downwards, missing Mercury as he rolled back up to his feet a short distance away._

 _One hand came up in a 'come and get me gesture', and Neptune was more than happy to oblige. Charging in, he swung it around like a staff, cutting arcs out of the air as Mercury fell back. That ended real quick, however, when Mercury slid forward and into his guard, placing both hands on his weapons handle._

 _Mercury met his eyes as he yanked on the weapon. Neptune held on, but his eyes opened suddenly and he lept backwards._

 _A smirk came over Mercury as he dropped the trident to the ground and placed one of his boots atop it._

 _Emerald took it from there, a pair of chains shooting in from the side to bind him. With no respite, Neptune's face drained of color, but that hardly stopped Mercury from landing a devastating blow to his sternum._

 _Seconds later, a buzzer rang, signalling that he was rung out._

 _Only real threat to Emerald dealt with, Mercury turned back to the three S's of the team._

 _"Bring it," Mercury challenged, taking a step forward before lowering himself into a defensive stance. "Show me that Vacuoan spirit."_

 _And they certainly tried._

* * *

 **So, originally the plan was to end on the reveal of Ozpin being alive, but... Well, I read the latest chapter of Forged Destiny, and I felt like NOT being as big a dick with my cliffhangers. There's still loose ends, which will be handily wrapped up in the coming chapters as we get some time in Ozpins perspective, but that whole mess should sort itself out given time.**

 **Oh, and Watts? What could Draco be planning? An invasion, perhaps?**

 **The structure of RWBY annoys me, to be honest. I love the show, season 4 and 5 notwithstanding, but the tournament arc feels very anticlimactic and fails as one. Fortunately, they skip it halfway through, but it annoys me that they didn't put the effort in to create any genuine rivalries amongst the cast outside _maybe_ Yang and Mercury during the actual runthrough.**

 **I don't plan to do that. All the important battles from now on will feature important characters who you should recognize- with one exception, as we never really saw the rest of their team in action, and they will feature in the doubles.**

 **Still, I noticed a complete lack of questions on the last Q+A I did. Does nobody have any? I'd be surprised if that was the case, but it's certainly possible. Anyway... Let me know.**


	23. Cash Floe

**God, being sick is the worst. I finished the last 1000 or so words of this chapter nursing an ice cream at Dairy Queen in an attempt to abate a throbbing headache that had been in and out all day.**

 **Even now, with the main symptom of whatever this is gone, it still hurts like a bitch to swallow.**

 **Kind of like this chapter- WHOOPS, did I just say that out loud!?**

 **Nah. In all honestly, it's mostly just preparation for what will happen in phase 3 of the Vytal festival, of which we are about to enter phase 2. The show itself did this, and everyone seemed to love it, so I didn't feel like changing the design doc I had written out.**

 **Unfortunately, I also ran into a glaring issue. I had basically no energy for the entire time I'd been writing the Jaune/Weiss date, and I'd written it so badly that I had to scrap the entire thing. I can't write flirting at the best of times, because most of my real life flirting involves innuendos these characters won't do. Now that I think of it, I probably shouldn't post that for all the world to see.**

 **But fuck it- I'm sick, and I barely care.**

 **Regardless, you'll note that the scene isn't written from their perspectives anymore. It seemed to make writing it vastly easier, for reasons I will defend unto the ends of the earth- not having to write sappy teenage romance or angst. Of course, that's not the end of the story, and I think you'll be pleased with how it worked out.**

 **Anyway, I'd better get to eating the actual food I have before me. Peace out, viewers.**

 _ ***Cheers loudly, throwing a fist in the air.***_

 _ **Ow...**_

* * *

"Yo, Jaune!"

 _Ugh... Of course you do this to me again, Universe._

"What?" he demanded, turning away from Weiss to... It wasn't someone he knew, but he recognized his hair. He was in one of the fights, wasn't he? It was a metal of some kind... Magnesium? No, no... Mer- Mercury!

But why was he here, now? They'd never met in person... Did he do something during his fight that caught the mans eye? He'd been out of sight for most of it, so that seemed incredibly unlikely.

"Jeez, no need to be so snappy." Mercury settled into the booth they were in, taking a seat beside him. "Am I interrupting something?"

 _Yes,_ but he couldn't exactly say that. It's not like Mercury was specifically out to get him. With a sigh, he turned to the silver-haired teen. "Sorry- it's just that something gets in the way whenever we try to do anything. Last time- the bloody city was invaded by Grimm- so you'll have to excuse a little... Irritation."

He nodded, making a quick order for some drink Jaune had never heard of before turning back to him. "I'd be down to help with that, actually. Assuming you could pay for it- of course," he said, turning to Weiss meaningfully.

Jaune quirked an eyebrow. "What did you have in mind?"

"Nothing unusual- just a more private venue for the two of you. It would be difficult to arrange a trip to Vale, since you're in the tournament, but there's nothing stopping us from bringing all of that to you."

That... Sounded pretty cool, actually. It wasn't like the price would really be an issue, and Weiss had said she was willing to pay for these kinds of things. Jaune smiled, turning to Weiss. "You up for it?"

She laughed, looking away until she got it back under control. "Sure, Jaune. Though, we're gonna need a bit more detail than that."

"Of course," Mercury conceded, sliding a card their way. It was a simple notecard with a scroll ID on it- presumably his. "Shoot a message, and I'll return it with the details later. For now, though, me and Em have some shopping to do."

As Mercury left them alone, Jaune couldn't help but watch him go. He'd been in the fight with just his partner, and that meant some rather tragic things regarding the rest of his team. Hospitalized, at the very least.

Port and Watts probably commented on it during the fight, but he'd been a little distracted at the time. Not that he would complain, given who it was that captivated his attention.

Smiling at the though, Jaune turned back to Weiss. "Where were we?"

"You were telling me about your family."

"Right- thanks. So, as I was saying-"

* * *

"You seem to be in a rather good mood," Mercury said upon entering their dorm. Emerald sat on her bed, reading something on her scroll, but the smile on her face was impossible to miss. It was nice to see, and his usual snark was held back a bit. Just a bit, though. "Did I promise you a date while I was gone?"

Emerald snorted, but didn't rebuff him for it. Instead, she turned the screen towards him, and hit the video on it.

It was a scene of some duffous vaulting a railing while running from the cops- probably a thief, given that he carried a purse in one hand- but he slipped in the motion and cracked his junk on the bar. It looked painful- particularly the slide down, since the bar was in the center of some stairs.

He was almost certainly caught after that, but the video just ends when he collapses to the ground a bit later.

Mercury couldn't help but smile. "I'm glad the pain of others gets you up and about, Emerald."

"It's not just that," she interrupted, pointing to a date below the video. It was from over twenty years back. "While he changed his last name since then- this is Roman."

Oh... Damn, now it was even funnier. He knew he was an amateur at some point, but that was just embarrassing. Fortunately for the career criminal, the ancient status of the video meant it wasn't getting many views anymore.

Except that they could fix that.

"Repost that later," he said, chuckling at the thought of him being taken down a peg. Roman was important- especially with Cinder currently taking charge of Hell- but his arrogant attitude could certainly use a little adjustment. "That's not why I came here, however."

Emerald perked up, clicking the button to close her scroll as she gave him her full attention.

"I have arranged to have Jaune Arc and Weiss Schnee to have a little date. While they're paying for it, Jaune's reaction implied that they would still be partially indebted to us."

A quirked eyebrow was her only answer.

"I want Jaune in the solo rounds," he explained. "While Pyrrha would be an ideal target for discrediting the kingdom, Watts is after her, and that would lose all of its value if she were to be destroyed emotionally and socially." The man couldn't exactly employ a social pariah without any backlash, after all. It was a good thing he'd made contact with them, or they might have ruined his plans, and though they hardly cared for him, he did still work for Cinder's boss.

His partner hummed, mulling that over for a moment. "Weren't we going after the other blond on that team, though?"

Mercury shrugged. "She isn't being sent forward, actually. Our earlier assumptions were wrong, and Weiss and Jaune were chosen. I don't intend for Jaune to win, like we had planned for Yang. I'm looking for him to be the grand finale- a martyr."

She seemed to understand that better, and slowly nodded. "You're going to have him lose to her, then?"

He smirked. She knew exactly what he thought.

* * *

The meeting was scheduled for three, but like all the other meetings, she made sure to arrive at Watts' office ten minutes early. The man wasn't in at the time, as he didn't answer her knock, but it didn't take long for him to stroll in from around the corner.

"Ah, miss Nikos," he greeted, bringing out a set of keys to unlock the door. "I apologize for my tardiness- I had some duties to attend to." He pointedly didn't explain what those were, and Pyrrha pointedly didn't mention it. "Come on in."

The door slid open, allowing her to slip inside. The room was spartan- containing only a few pieces of furniture, and a mostly empty bookshelf- but he didn't seem to mind as he slid down into his seat behind the desk. Pyrrha moved as well, taking the chair opposite him.

"Allow me to get straight to the point. Has Ozpin approached you regarding a woman named Amber or fairy tales?"

She couldn't hide the confusion that came over her, and he took that as answer enough.

"I can't say I'm surprised- he is certainly one to keep his cards close to his chest. Even at the expense of others..." That last part was mumbled under his breath, but that didn't stop her from picking it up. "Regardless, this offer is why my employer is intrigued by you."

"What do fairy tales have to do with an offer?" Pyrrha asked, staring at him. There wasn't any sign of deceit, but that only really meant he believed he was telling the truth. But fairy tales? Even many historical records are fake, so she didn't exactly feel confident in the mans sanity.

Not that she'd say that.

"Simply put, Ozpin has a fairy tale power I think he'd like to give you." He gave her a moment to process that, but she used that to instead ask a question.

"Magic is real, then?"

Watts nodded. "You don't seem surprised."

That was at least slightly true. She was unaware of it, and still doubted it now, but it wasn't that ridiculous an idea. Aura and Semblances were already on the verge of being magic, so it was hardly a stretch to think the actual thing existed.

However, it would be odd for it to be kept a secret. Why wouldn't Ozpin go public with this, or someone else near him? Magic being real wasn't exactly a terrifying revelation. There had to be something more... Something Ozpin wanted to keep hidden, and something Watts presumably did as well.

"And your employer has an interest in this power, then?" She didn't even need to hear his confirmation to already know the answer to that. It made sense, but that didn't exactly mean she was on board. "What do you need from me, specifically?"

"Compliance," he replied easily, placing his arms onto his desk as he leaned in. "A powerful group is conspiring to acquire this magic, and they are more than willing to destroy Beacon and Vale in order to get it. To prevent that, the moment you acquire the maiden powers, I'd like to take you away from here."

A threat to all of Beacon and Vale? Just how powerful was this magic?

And wouldn't the whole world have found out about it by now? Magic, especially in fairy tales, wasn't exactly subtle.

"You mentioned a name- Amber."

"Ah, yes." He cleared his throat. "The power is always contained within someone. The latest person, a woman named Amber, is being held on life support somewhere in Beacon. Her mind is dead, but Ozpin refuses to let her perish since he couldn't then control the power- the person it was given to would be out of his reach."

Seeking to control the power. Interesting, but it raised the question of why he couldn't take the power for himself. He seemed to pick up on her thoughts, for he explained it away without her saying a word.

"The power can only ever be held by a young woman, which is why Glynda Goodwitch also isn't a candidate. Those requirements are how they got their name- the maidens."

"Ozpin wants me to be the next maiden?" The question was simple, but Watts seemed to struggle with how to answer that for a second.

"I can't say what he wants, exactly. I can say, however, that you're likely the best candidate in Vale. You're strong, relatively innocent, and so public a figure that targeting you would be problematic for anyone trying to acquire the power for themselves."

That made a lot of sense- but all of this raised an interesting question, and one she hadn't thought to ask until now. It seemed so obvious in hindsight, but... "How do you know all of this, exactly?"

He took a deep breath, which was almost certainly an attempt to gain enough time to come up with how to mislead or outright lie to her. She let it pass, however, since there wasn't much she could really do.

Watts eventually sighed, sitting up at his desk. "I once worked with one Ozpin's allies- you probably haven't heard of him, but he was a veritable genius who worked under the name Anima. He and I worked together on a device which would transfer aura between people, rapidly speeding up the healing process of virtually anyone and allowing for mass aura awakening." Watts shook his head, regret clear on his face. "I only learned much later what Anima was up to on the side- creating a device to forcibly transfer the maiden powers."

Pyrrha nodded, more out of an obligation to do something in response than understanding. She'd heard the name before- exactly once- and it was when Yang described their team mission to Ruby. He was the instructor who came with them.

An idealistic monster, he'd been called. Someone who accomplished good with the methods of a supervillain.

He seemed to pick up on her look of recognition, but didn't comment on it. Instead he looked to his scroll, which had suddenly started ringing.

"I apologize, miss Nikos, but we can resume our discussion another time. This is already quite a lot to think about, and I wouldn't want to overwhelm you any further."

The champion stood up, and with a slight bow, she left the room.

One thing for sure- her earlier belief that Atlas wanted her was wrong. Dead wrong.

* * *

"You're a real softy," Emerald prodded as Mercury positioned himself at the entrance of the 'restaurant'.

Her partner rolled his eyes as he leaned further into the wall. Jaune and Weiss were in the room as well, seated at a table. It was early for dinner- at least for him- but neither of them really seemed to care, given the circumstance.

And Mercury had interrupted them when they'd have eaten lunch anyway.

"Yeah, yeah, whatever you say," he deflected, giving her a brief look before focusing back on the couple the two of them were here for. They were currently being shown a menu of sorts- but it was actually just a list of items the chefs had the resources on hand to make.

Hiring people to make food was hardly difficult, and the school had rooms fit for Ozpin's meetings with council members. It hadn't even been hard to find one- and surprisingly easy to simply rent it out. Not like Ozpin actually kept anything there, besides a little furniture.

"Didn't you write down that you were on the date?"

Mercury shook his head. "Technically, all I wrote was that I would be making use of the room. I _said_ I was on a date, though unless one falls from the sky, that's unlikely to actually happen."

"Right..." Emerald stared at him, and she suddenly felt self-conscious about her question. It had certainly come to mind before, but had been dismissed for a number of incredibly obvious reasons, most of which were still in place- the most obvious being Cinder's lack of approval.

 _"I don't tolerate drama in my underlings, Emerald, and that is all that will come from your union."_

Instinctively, she knew Cinder was right. Even if the presence still watching her was a fake, that didn't make the opinion any less hers. "Of course..."

Mercury shot her a glance, but his attention was taken by Jaune and Weiss again as they laughed about something they hadn't heard. They were getting along, certainly. While it was still awkward between the two, as they occasionally fell into silence, it was a connection moreso than anything she'd personally had.

Cinder had been the closest, but she'd known for years that she was only a part of her life because she was useful. That was enough, once, but with her gone...

"Why not take part?"

He turned to her fully, giving her a questioning look. "Is that a proposition?"

She didn't answer, but the silence was telling.

Mercury snorted, and had to restrain himself from breaking out into full blown laughter. He didn't succeed completely, and Emerald narrowed her eyes as a few chuckles reached her ears. "What!?" she snapped, raising a finger to his face.

"Nothing, nothing," he managed while he finally got his amusement in check. "I'm just used to making those kinds of jokes- not the other way around. Good one, Em."

Hah- yeah. A joke.

Emerald looked away, giving away nothing. It was safer, and a nod from Cinder had her conceding the point.

They'd known each other for years- what was an extra week?

It didn't bother her... Not at all.

* * *

Jaune looked up as his team was called by the lottery system. Weiss put a hand on his shoulder in a silent sign of unity. As one, they watched the second one flip through teams randomly. It didn't take long- but as it gradually settled on his opponent's team- a knot formed in his stomach.

Pyrrha's team.

 _"Oh, that's a real shame for Team Jabberwocky,"_ Port sounded over the speakers. _"I, for one, wish them luck."_

Yeah, like luck would change anything. He'd need a miracle for this.

* * *

Mercury blinked a few times as he stared at the team selection. Emerald was just as stunned as he was, given the situation.

They'd rigged the match to put Jaune and Weiss against Team FNKI, but that didn't happen. There was only one person who would have been able to override their command, and he stared down from the commentary booth.

 _Watts,_ Mercury seethed. _You'll regret that decision._

* * *

Pyrrha sighed as she saw the team choices. It might have been a little selfish, but she didn't want to defeat her sister team. She'd hoped they'd lose to someone else before they got to her.

It was too late for that, though, and she simply rose beside Nora.

"I'm sorry," she spoke under her breath. Nobody heard it, but that wasn't what she was for.

 _Let's get this over with._

* * *

 **Oh dear- the immovable object and the infinite walls versus the unstoppable force and the invincible girl. Mercury and Emerald start to make their move as well, getting on the good side of Jaune and Weiss for some unknown reason.**

 **Adding to that, Watts manages to get his mitts on Pyrrha, if only a little. Knowing him, however, that won't be the end of it.**

 **Hehehehe. See you next week, when our unfortunate protagonist does battle against the second strongest competitor here.**

 **The first... Well, you'll find out later.**

 **And I must be really tired... I almost added this chapter to Fickle Things on accident... I think I'm gonna conk out for a good twelve hours.**


	24. The Frost Giant

**The entire main fight was written while listening to the Bad Time Trio mix by Nick Nitro, which I heavily reccomend- both on its own and as something to listen while reading this. After all, Jaune is.**

* * *

Jaune waited, breath caught, as the crowd held onto Ports every word. He couldn't hear them, but he recognized where their eyes were, and that told him when the introductions were over.

It would only be seconds now, until the slaughter began.

Weiss already knew the plan- one he'd drafted last minute to capitalize on their few advantages. It wouldn't even be hard, given the individualistic nature of their opponents.

She simply had to take on Nora from a distance, hopefully winning to back him up before Pyrrha smeared him across the floor.

No big deal.

He forced himself to exhale, drawing in another breath as he tapped once on his scroll. The song kicked in almost instantly, and he could feel his already rapid heart rate increase.

 _You can do this._

The universe begged to differ, as both sides of the arena were left effectively empty: a desert on one end, with an artificial sun which would only really be an issue for Weiss, and a yellowish-green plain with waist-high grass. No environmental trickery to rely on or cover for either team...

Given that Pyrrha and Nora both specialized in close range, it was clear who that favored.

This was revenge for having an actually pleasant evening with Weiss, wasn't it? He'd made a loan on the universal karma bank, and now it was charging with interest.

Now wasn't a time to complain, as much as he'd love to. He locked eyes with Pyrrha, who gave him a stoic nod in return, and with only the electronic beats in his ears, the battle began.

As expected, Pyrrha and Nora broke the standoff first. While Pyrrha surged forward, keeping her buckler just below her line of sight as she held her blade to one side, Nora was considerably less composed. She slammed her hammer down as she moved, using the momentum to send her flying into a massive downward strike towards Weiss' head.

Jaune couldn't stand around and watch, and so trusted Weiss to get the job done. His eyes locked with Pyrrha as she, in turn, slowed down just before him.

Neither had a ranged weapon- or, at least, not one that would matter since they both had shields- so the fight would come down to a melee. Jaune lowered his sword slightly, angling it across his body defensively. If she attacked with her blade, regardless of where she aimed, he'd be in a position to deflect it upwards.

She knew that- he could see it in the movements of her eyes- but that didn't give him any real warning when she just crashed into him with her buckler instead.

Jaune winced as he moved backwards- mitigating the blow- and was forced to shove off her shield to avoid a slash coming around for his ankles. Pyrrha kept up, whirling around to slam her sword into his side. His shield blocked it easily enough, but that kept it beside him, and she lunged in once again with her shield.

He pivoted, allowing her to flow past him as he kicked out at one of her legs. She stepped over it easily enough, and swung around for a backhand.

That was the moment to strike. The hand buried in his cheek was meant to force him back in the moment of vulnerability, but thanks to his semblance, he instead stepped in and grabbed one of the many decorative elements of her outfit. He pulled her in, cracking his forehead against hers and sending her back.

* * *

It felt like she'd slammed her head into a wall. No- worse than that- since most walls actually caved in when they met.

One hand rose to cradle her forehead as the other held her shield before her defensively. He'd done something when she'd hit him- all of the times. He wasn't being hit backwards when she struck, and that was no more clear evidence than their last skirmish.

Knocking an opponent down was the easiest way to win, and one she normally relied on. A swift and brutal set of strikes designed to open their guard just enough to shatter their balance.

 _But he isn't invincible,_ she noted with the aura meters in the corner of her eye. They were both even, around 90%, but that meant he was still taking damage.

A moment passed in silence, and that actually got her to look around in confusion. They were in a massive stadium- why would it be...?

The murmurs came, quiet statements barely uttered, but enough of them that their meaning was caught. The Invincible girl was hit, they seemed to taunt. That... That was true. She'd finally taken damage in public.

Pyrrha looked back to Jaune, the dork she'd met before initiation. He seemed weak then, incompetent even, but could he...?

 _You will win,_ her thoughts reminded her as she entered a ready stance. _You have the experience and semblance to overcome his strategy._

That was true... Dammit.

With a growl, she charged in again.

* * *

The ground exploded where Weiss had been standing but a second prior.

That was fine, since the cloud of dirt raining down around Nora would blind her for a moment. A circular wall of ice sprouted up from the ground around her, with the tiniest of openings which she thrust Myrtenaster into.

Weiss heard Nora leaping up and out of it easily enough, but that was fine. Flames roared into the funnel and followed her, surging upwards and bathing her in its orange glow.

The heiress lept backwards, not thinking for a moment that this would actually put her down, and she was proven right when Nora's hammer cracked the grassland again.

A momentary truce was brokered between the two as they each recovered their breath. Weiss was actually the worse of it, since people underestimated the cost of using Aura to ignite dust manually.

That was why she used ice normally, since you need only place it correctly, but there was no way that was going to win this fight. When it came to walls, Nora had proven herself quite capable of smashing through the marble ones of Beacon, and there was no way even _her_ ice was going to fair much better.

The roar of the crowd hummed in her ears, filling her with energy as she sprung forward, using a glyph to blur past her opponent. Nora winced as Myrtenaster slid across her arm, but she her own weapon around with her other hand and plowed her into one of the only bits of scenery- a gray boulder.

As the dust settled, and Weiss gripped at her arching ribs, her aura recognized a sudden spike in killing intent- a sort of defense system that augmented a humans natural instincts. Fear ran through Weiss as she flipped away from the rock, but Nora hadn't moved, choosing instead to look off to the side.

The relative silence was deafening as she noted that even the crowd was still, and Weiss turned to what they were all watching.

 _Oh Oum..._

* * *

The spear surged forward repeatedly, edging him backwards as he slowly rotated around the arena. The assault was fierce, but after the seventh strike, Jaune had only to palm the head of her weapon up to create an opening. She recognized it, and though no surprise shown on her face, her muscles tensed as she prepared something else.

Jaune skid to the side to evade an acrobatic flip kick, and in the moment of vulnerability created from leaving the ground, he popped a knee up into Pyrrha's gut. She gasped, losing the contents of her lungs, before she was sent several feet back.

She stayed standing, and a second later she launched her shield in his direction to stop any followup.

He batted it to the side with his own, not even looking at it as she dove forward, clasping it back onto her wrist in the same motion as she sent her blade up past his sword.

A simple turn of the head had it slipping over his shoulder, and Jaune stepped forward into her. He remained relatively unaffected, thanks to his semblance, while she was sent sprawling backwards.

Pyrrha wasn't one to lay still, and as he slammed his blade where her chest was a second before, she was already back up to her feet. She entered a ready stance as before, but unlike her earlier one, her buckler arm was held forward instead of her blade.

He knew why- fortunately- and had the forewarning to hop back before a spear lashed out towards his head.

"I've seen you beat entire teams- what are you doing?" He couldn't hear her reply, but her narrowed eyes made it clear that she was trying. Why wouldn't she be demolishing him? There was no way his training was equal, and as broken as his semblance was, she could move his equi-

Jaune's eyes shot wide as he rolled to the side, dodging a burst of gunfire. She took aim again, and he brought his shield to bear, giving him just a moment to think.

Some reason had to exist why she wasn't just wrenching open her guard... She was usually subtle about the use of her semblance, but what if that was out of necessity? Maybe a condition had to be met, or the power was limited...

What did she do in the fight with Cardin's team?

* * *

 _The four of them charged at her from all directions, and rather than face them, Pyrrha flung her weapon upwards- using the motion to aide gravity in ducking. As the weapons met above her head, she slid one hand across them before, with a backwards somersault, she was brought back to her feet._

* * *

That was the first and only time she put herself at any risk... There had to be a reason for her to go out of the way to do that- even with the mere second it took- and he had an idea what it was.

Then again, she had moved metal she hadn't touched before- he hadn't seen that, but he'd heard about the details of the food fight. Something else was involved.

It took a moment, but it clicked. Aura. Huntsman and huntresses sent Aura into their weapons and armor, strengthening them. At the speeds Ruby was moving, for instance, her weapon would shatter on impact with almost anything, but it wasn't working by itself.

If she needed to touch something to override that, a simple way to counter her existed- at least for him.

With the press of a button, his shield flushed with ice, as did the blade of his sword. They would be heavier, but that hardly mattered given how the actual fights worked.

Now he just needed to plan around any curve balls.

As if on cue, something cracked against the back of his head, sending jolts of pain through him. He whirled around, catching sight of Pyrrha's shield looping back around to her, and instantly regretted it as her palm met his unprotected back.

Jaune fell forward- not from the force, but rather to put himself in position to kick back up at her. She flowed to the side, and landed another blow- with her spear, this time- before stepping away from Jaune's second kick.

When Jaune rose to his feet, he looked down at his breastplate. She'd touched it- compromising the armor piece.

Without a second thought, he tore it off, spinning around to launch it out of the arena. Once he was satisfied it was gone, he turned back to Pyrrha.

She looked winded, though no more than he, for though he couldn't hear it, he could feel each labored breath. Despite the frequent pauses, each skirmish was a second or two of intense movement, as it would likely continue.

 _Nothing's ever easy,_ he thought, dashing forward.

* * *

The fight between her and Nora had come to a sort of truce, as the pair just watched their teammates go at it. It was kinda of unreal to see just how well Jaune was fairing in the duel, seeing as she'd only actually given him conditioning and a few tricks.

Those few tricks were enough, apparently, and it actually annoyed her a bit to see Pyrrha fighting him on even grounds. Nobody else in their year could do that, with the possible exception of Yang, but that had only been true for as long as it had taken Pyrrha to dissect the hotheads semblance.

The silence of the crowd had changed to cheers- along with a variety of hateful slurs at Jaune for 'tainting the invincible girl'- but those were handily ignored. Even the announcers seemed unable to commentate on it, though that didn't stop Port from trying.

 _"Truly a spectacle- truly. Jaune Arc of Beacon is neck and neck with Pyrrha, both at half Aura now, and neither is showing any signs of slowing down!"_

That last part was definitely exaggeration. Jaune was sagging, letting his arms hang whenever he got the chance as the weight of his gear played against him, while Pyrrha just looked angry. Defiant, even, as she unleashed another flurry of blows.

For a moment, it looked like he might be overwhelmed by it, but on the six-teeth or so strike, he caught it on his shield and extended the ice to encompass her weapon.

It shattered a moment later, but that was more than enough time for him to crack the pommel of his own weapon on her sternum, pushing her back and forcing her to catch a breath.

Jaune didn't stop there, despite his clear exhaustion, and instead dashed in with both his weapon and shield held close to his chest. Why became clear when Pyrrha made to block, and he thrust both outward, spreading her arms just enough to crash one foot into her gut.

His way of fighting was the opposite of refined, but that only served to his advantage here. She was used to a proper fight with tournament level duelists, not unbreakable brawlers. Even Yang fought more predictably, since her weapon set limited the options of her assault.

He treated everything as a weapon, going so far as to slam his shin into her ear as he flipped into the air to evade a horizontal swing.

That left him vulnerable- on the ground right in front of her, even, which would ordinarily be the end of the fight- but his semblance allowed him to get away with just a strike or two. He barely seemed phased, and with the awkward angle of the blow hitting his rolling body, he'd even gotten the better hit in.

One eye turned back to the aura meters, noting that there was a slight disparity. Only a percent or two, really, but that could matter in a fight like this. The moment one went into the red, they were done.

Pyrrha was losing, and from the gnash of her teeth, it was clear she saw that and wasn't enjoying it.

* * *

 _Dammit!_

Another strike was knocked aside, as expected, and though she twirled around to slam a hand into his now exposed ribs, he was unfazed and simply grabbed her arm- using it to fling her into a nearby boulder. He followed, lunging for her with his ice coated sword, and she was forced to deflect it upwards with her buckler.

He kept going, crashing into her full force and plowing her into the rock once more. She gasped, the air torn from her lungs, while he simply stared into her eyes and struck again, kicking one leg into her armpit to cripple the arm and obliterate her already waning balance.

She growled, ignoring the pain as she wrapped the arm around his leg. She couldn't make him move, but she could certainly keep him still.

Jaune seemed to realize that too, as he slammed the edge of his shield on her shoulder, earning a grunt from her. She didn't just let him get away with it, though, and crashed the top of her head into his chin.

He actually reacted to that one, covering his head and neck with one hand as he grimaced. He still felt pain, and- with one held up- his legs were open.

It was crude, and it was unconventional, but she felt at least a little justified kneeing him once.

Pyrrha smiled vindictively as he fell back- finally ending his assault as he made to cushion his nether regions. She let him, at least for a moment, as she recovered from the last of his attacks.

But she was fine first, and so she blurred into his guard, landing a strike to his chest before he could even properly defend.

He reacted quickly, bringing his arms to bear, but she simply kicked off his ribs to gain distance.

One look to the aura boards showed them both just above 30%, with her on the very brink. One or two more strikes- no matter how slight- would spell the end for her, and given his impeccable defense, he would likely land that finishing blow before she did.

That wasn't an option. After a quick breath, she raised her palms to her opponent.

And then, with a silent whisper of thanks to her team and a prayer to Nora, lightning crackled forth.

 _"Oh! A stunning defeat!"_

* * *

 _Ow._

Jaune's thoughts weren't exactly complicated as he felt his limbs gradually lose the numbing sensation from earlier and start to truly feel the pain of what he'd just experienced. Despite all of that, however, and the wavering of his balance, he was on his feet- loosely clutching his shield in one arm.

Everything hurt, and he unconsciously dropped his shield and sword to the ground. They clinked, audibly, and his head fell.

Only to be caught as Weiss manifested beside him, an arm over his shoulder to hold him up.

A moment passed in relative silence, his heavy breathing the only sound, before the crowd erupted into an unrecognizable maelstrom of noise. One might have called it a cheer, but the sheer volume pushed it into the realm of a weapon, and Jaune's hands came up to cover his ears.

Slowly, his eyes trailed up to the Aura meter.

[||||||] Jaune

[||||||||||||||||||||||||] Weiss

[|||||||||||||||||||||||||] Nora

[|||||] Pyrrha (Defeated)

He... He'd won.

Jaune sagged in Weiss arms as relief poured through him. Without the strength to hold himself up, Weiss took over, meeting his eyes.

She stared into his for a moment, the intent lost as she smiled broadly. She was proud- he could see it in the glint in her eyes which shone like a reflection of the sun. He smiled back, though his exhaustion came through when it cracked a moment later.

Weiss saw fit to cover the mistake- placing her lips over his to mask it entirely.

 _Yeah..._ his mind snarked. _That's the reason..._

* * *

 **NOOOOO! It's Wednesday- I have failed you all!**

 **Sure, I'm only off by 30 minutes, but that's still failure! I must go the way of the Aztecs and ritually cannibalize myself in repentance.**

 **In all seriousness, I'll find a way to make it up next time. For now, though, I should probably get this chapter out.**

 **The moment has not been fully resolved, but the next chapter will involve a lot of important information and I didn't feel like segmenting it. If that's a problem for you, I'm sorry, but... Not much I can really do about it.**

 **I also apologize about the Aura meters. I tried a variety of styles, but Fanfiction seems to hate repeating characters, so this was the best I could manage. It's honestly kind of useless as a measuring device, but I am not the person to blame for once.**

 **Cheers to that, at least.**

 **Tchuss!**


	25. Tip Of The Iceberg

**For those of you interested in a Minecraft Factions server (and giving me some sick rewards :D) join the discord with the following invite code:** **Gbf4eEf. You cant copy it, but the code itself is pretty short, so... Hope to see you there.  
**

* * *

 **Someone posted a review on the last chapter claiming that Jaune's semblance was immovability. Please, allow me to explain again for you in the back.**

 **Inviolability is a more complex function than just being immovable. All forces applied to you are nullified, which both makes it impossible for things to slow down your attacks and to break your guard. This is why he was effective against Venor- its body, no matter how durable, was literally incapable of blocking his attacks.**

 **So, yes, he is an unstoppable force as well, but there's some caviates. The biggest one, and one Pyrrha managed to exploit- at least briefly- in their fight was that you can still stop him from accelerating. He might not be affected by her blocking, but if he's not moving already, she can keep him from starting. He still has to push off of other objects to move.**

 **There is more to it- he was right- but I figured I'd get this out of the way. I've seen a decent amount of confusion about the power in other media, and figured this would be helpful.**

 **Anyway- I don't want to take up too much of your time. Here is 'Tip Of The Iceberg'.**

* * *

Watts groaned for a multitude of reasons, each more obnoxious than the last, but the most clear in his mind was the result of the fight. Pyrrha would not be chosen- that much was clear. She'd blatantly ignored the limits of her semblance- the cost specifically- since it was negligible in her normal style.

If she did that with the Maiden powers, she would be dead. Even Ozpin had to see that.

Unfortunately, that left him at ground zero again. All that work, ruined within the span of a day.

He didn't miss the political maneuvering involved in that fight, either, though at least Weiss wasn't getting in the way of his plans. The public association and approval of their pairing, and the cementing of them in the public's mind, only served to undermine Jacques all without his involvement.

To that end, at least, he couldn't complain.

Port, beside him, continued to ramble on about 'giving the two love birds space', and that served to distract from his own silence as he peered into the crowd, searching for a familiar shock of green. Cinder's former pawns were in the section for contestants, and they seemed to be equally shocked at the young boys victory.

Though they were certainly a lot worse at hiding it. Slackened jaws were truly unbecoming of them.

"Oh!" Port suddenly shouted, bringing his attention back to the arena. "It would appear that Team Jabberwocky claims victory by forfeit!"

Forfeit? Why would the Valkyrie girl surrender? Jaune was surely out for the count the moment the fight started and Weiss was both distracted and weaker than her... It was a free victory. Sure, there was the emotional backlash that might come from the crowd, but she hardly seemed like one to bother with politics.

If only he could actually hear them... They should really wear headsets or wiretaps or something so they could actually be heard.

And here he was, coming up with ways to improve the tournament he was going to ruin. Salem, damn it.

* * *

The kiss ended long before he wanted it to, which was saying something with his lungs burning as they were. He sucked in a few breaths before his body forgave him, but his mind was still on their embrace.

Despite his exhaustion, he rose up, following Weiss as she left the arena. A glance to the side showed Nora pantomiming them- which was to say, she wrapped her arms around open air and made out with it.

Apparently they were going to be hearing about that a lot later, but she'd still surrendered, which came out as a surprise. Had the kiss itself done it?

He couldn't say, but he didn't really mind given the outcome.

Jaune just took his seat in the stands- next to Weiss, of course- and watched as the next team was set up. The first team was one he recognized, and a green and silver haired pair made their way to the stage in silence. They seemed tense, which was fitting.

The second team wasn't one he remembered, but Port seemed to, as he shouted their names for all to hear.

 _"And from Atlas, we have Ciel Artego and Penny Poledina of Team COPP!"_ The crowd was abnormally quiet then, as Atlas had stricter discipline and didn't shout out when their teams were picked. Port knew, and compensated as best he could. _"Please give a big round of applause to our four contestants!"_

Cheers ripped through the crowd as the Mistralean and Atlesian teams stared at each other. Both Emerald and Mercury had intense focus on their face, while only Ciel had anything even remotely similar from Atlas. Penny was smiling broadly, as if she were at a carnival. _Which she is,_ he reminded himself.

Just in the fighting part of it.

The arena was set- an active volcano opposite a blizzard, both biomes that would be extremely hazardous and would be avoided normally.

Which is why he was surprised when Ciel and Penny lept back up the volcano, taking a perch on one a few flat sections along the slope. They picked the volcano? If they were from Atlas, you would think they would brave the blizzard and take the edge that comes with...

They were. If they had ranged options- which Ciel certainly did, given the huge rifle she was carrying- they could use the vantage given by the volcano to force their opponents into the blizzard.

Something would have to follow that, but if they just camped the blizzard, they would slowly lose the battle as their Aura was forced to keep them warm. All Emerald and Mercury would have to do is wait outside.

An instant and brilliant tactical move with brand new information... At least one of them was a strategic genius.

Emerald and Mercury spared a glance back towards the blizzard before running after their opponents. Ciel opened fire on them, breaking the two up for a moment, and allowing for Penny to lunge for Mercury.

They traded fists for a moment, the two seemingly equal, before Mercury swung a leg up into her side.

Penny was completely unaffected by the attack, in much the same manner Jaune was, but he could see her shift slightly onto her opposite foot.

Despite that slight difference, her defense was no less effective, and she wrapped her arm around his ankle. Before she could use it, however, Mercury kicked his other foot up, planting it on her chest, and fired.

The damage was minimal, but it tore his foot out of his grip, and though he grimaced at it, he was clearly still standing as he skid to a stop a distance away.

Neither of the other two fighters were standing. Cover was easy to find in the volcano area, with Dust and rocks dotted randomly around them. This was a double edged sword for both of them, since the Dust was explosive upon being struck by the other's bullets, but Ciel clearly had the advantage here.

Her weapon, unlike Emerald, accepted broken chunks of the ambient Dust crystals as ammo. Infinite ammo might not make too much of a difference in police shootouts or the like, but here, against people with Aura and training, it was the ultimate crutch. She didn't even really need to aim- though she did- since she would land the occasional shot forever.

Both of them knew it, too, and they both knew the other did as well. Their strategies weren't exactly complex, but that's often for the best, since a complex plan never survived contact with the enemy.

Speaking of, getting into melee was clearly Emeralds plan. While Ciel's weapon was mechashift, it had simply expanded into an even larger gun- not a melee weapon. Presumably, she was trained as a sniper or backline, and so would lose to Emeralds mid to close range fighting style.

Once again, though, that gave the advantage to Ciel. With the more accurate and powerful gun, she forced Emerald to stay out of sight, which drastically slowed her approach. That alone, let Ciel simply walk backwards to stay ahead.

Nearing the edge might have been a problem for the two, but the fight had already looped around to leading Ciel towards the Volcano. It would be a wall at her back, which might be a threat, but she'd already shown the ability to climb it exceedingly fast.

That fight would take far too long, and was clearly less interesting than the other, so Jaune turned back to Mercury and Penny.

The two of them had left the volcano area entirely, having returned to the barren white circle in the middle of the Colosseum. Penny was on the offense, now, and was batting away his attempts to block by simply palming them away.

Mercury had apparently had enough of it, and started to dodge instead. There wasn't much Penny could really do, given the rigidity of her fighting style, but she made to with incorporating a few feints in an attempt to catch him.

It didn't work, frankly, since the girl didn't even look like she was going through with the feint in the moment. Not helping was repeating the same turnaround strike three times, even when the first had failed.

All of that didn't change the scoreboard, though, which clearly showed that Penny was in the lead by a fair margin. A few percent was important- just look to his battle for proof- but this was practically a foregone conclusion. Emerald and Ciel were fairly close, with the former behind by a reasonable 6%, but that was nothing compared to the 39% difference of their partners. Penny was down to 97% Aura- which made that difference even more pronounced given Mercury's effective loss.

But that board wasn't everything, and Mercury hardly let it bother him. He was actually smiling broadly, likely enjoying the rush of adrenaline from so tough a fight.

Their next exchange was different, with Mercury slipping past her arm. One of his boots came to rest just in front of her ankle, and in that instant it took Penny to respond, he cracked his elbow into her back.

No sound was heard- not through the roar of the crowd- but that didn't make the crack any less real. The instant he hit, Mercury regretted it, the attack only causing him pain as he was forced to retreat to cradle it for a moment.

A moment passed, the two of them staring each other down, before he grimaced again. She did have that chrome bag on her- was her back covered in metal? That was a very specific armor piece, but he couldn't argue with the results.

Mercury took it in stride, dashing in before flipping forward into a handstand. He kept moving forward, albeit a bit slower, with his feet repeatedly coming down towards her- the gun built into his boots firing each time it made contact with her blocking arms.

Penny learned quickly what the threat was, and rather than block the next utterly bizarre kick, she ducked, thrusting a palm into the small of his back.

The blow sent him skidding back, but he used the momentum to flip back up to his feet, and entered a ready stance opposite her.

The fight between Emerald and Ciel was far less equal, but no less intense. Emerald ran backwards, laying down a massive spread of gunfire as she used the curvature of the volcano to hide her location.

That didn't seem to matter, though, as Ciel just unleashed heavy impact rounds into the rock, the bullets burrowing through and to the other side. They still mostly missed, but there was little chance to retaliate without Emerald opening herself up to a proper shot.

Seeing how the rifle- now expanded into a glowing, purple railgun- could punch through stone as easily as air, that would be an automatic loss.

Emerald had the right idea- hiding from her opponents view entirely before starting to scale the mountain. The high ground wouldn't really help in the firefight, but it would allow her to help Mercury with his fight.

Which looked to be more and more needed as the fight continued. Penny was slower than Mercury, especially when he used the guns in his feet to move faster, but she seemed far ahead of him in nearly every category. She hadn't even brought out a weapon yet, but the fight was rapidly turning in her favor.

Mercury rolled to the side to evade a blow from Penny, but when her leg met the ground, the quake that shot out made him stumble anyway. That time was more than enough for her to round on him and plant another palm strike into his sternum.

He flew back, flattening a part of the volcano's surface as he struck hard. He gasped for breath, and probably swore something at her, but it was completely lost as he cut it short to dodge another strike.

Penny's fist embedded most of the way into the rock, and Mercury dashed in to capitalize on the moment of weakness.

Except it wasn't- she merely tugged once to wrench it free, bringing it directly into his path and slamming her fist into his gut.

All the while, the smile on her face never vanished- a fact that Port brought up as the cameras closed in on her. She turned to one, giving it a cutesy turn of her head, before meeting Mercury's eyes once more.

They widened, then, as her feet were torn backwards by the chains wrapped around her ankles. She fell flat- likely too heavy for Emerald to haul up the volcano- and was left face down in the rock as Mercury leaped at her.

His foot never hit her. She didn't move, though.

Instead, the small bag on her back opened up, unleashing a number of floating swords which aimed out towards him.

Mercury used the recoil of his legs firing to dodge- overshooting his target as he clumsily landed upon the rock- and caught his footing as quickly as possible.

Not quickly enough, as it turned out, since Penny just slammed her hands down onto the ground- the force more than enough to push her onto her feet.

Emerald yanked on the chains again- the hooks still wrapped around the girls ankles- but she was prepared now. Instead of move against it, though, she leapt upwards- sailing into the air towards Emerald.

The green haired girl leapt out of the way- dodging the girl herself- but the same could not be said about the blades that swung well outside any melee range. Several caught her, rending clothing as they lifted her off the ground.

There was a brief moment of inaction, as Penny concentrated on landing on the rim of the volcano rather than falling in, but it wasn't long enough for Emerald to escape the blades' grip.

And then they threw her aside, sending the girl tumbling down the side and out of the arena entirely.

She turned back to Mercury, only to find him missing. The sounds of battle likely told her where he was, as she turned directly towards Ciel desperately trying to fend him off with her gun despite the rock in the way.

The clash was equally ruthless as Penny's had been, with Mercury raining blows onto the normally long ranged fighter, and gradually leading her closer to the edge.

Penny lept off the volcano, falling the more than thirty meter height without the slightest worry.

That was her mistake, as when she landed, the ground shook violently. Mercury, who was midair at the time, went unaffected.

Her partner, on the other hand, was lifted off the ground and left completely defenseless as Mercury span around to land one final kick.

Ciel blocked the blow itself- Mercury's foot crashing into her weapon instead- but that did nothing for the force behind it. She sailed backwards, joining Emerald outside of the arena.

And then there were two.

* * *

"What an impressive knock out by Mercury Black!" Port shouted, sparing a momentary glance to his near silent co-commentator before he turned back to the mic. "With that, Team CMME is back in the running!"

Watts remained silent still, just watching the ensuing melee between the remaining two combatants.

Port rolled his eyes, ignoring him again. For a politician, he really didn't have the spirit for public entertainment.

"Oh, that looked like it hurt!" Down below, Mercury recovered from a harsh blow to one shoulder as he threw himself to the side- narrowly dodging a burst of gunfire as Penny's swords showed themselves to be guns as well.

It was a truly impressive weapon, combining the advantages of many different fighting styles into one. They acted as defense and offense in equal measure, both blocking blows and retaliating in one motion. They also kept her hands free, allowing her to engage him in melee as they dug into his aura.

Now known to be ranged, however, they truly began to shine.

Mercury flipped around in the air, narrowly avoiding four swords that flew past him. He twirled, landing only one foot to the ground as he popped a shot off with the other.

It deflected off metal as the blades flew back to her, grouping on her sides as she dashed in.

"And it looks like he's taking it to the blizzard!" Port shouted as Mercury gunned it for the aforementioned maelstrom of ice and snow. Penny followed, falling behind slightly and unable to stop him from entering the storm.

But she didn't, stopping a few paces away from the edge. He knew why- her greatest advantage, range, would be nullified if she couldn't see her opponent.

It's not like she had infinite ammo, either, so she couldn't just shoot the entire place into oblivion.

"Smart- Mercury dwells within the field of snow to cut off vision. Will Penny take the bait?" Clearly not- even before he mentioned it. She attempted to look into the wall of white, but there was no way she'd actually see Mercury.

The girl agreed, settling for swinging her blades out in wide arcs. They cut into the vast area, but thanks to a look at the Aura meters, he knew she was hitting nothing but snow.

That continued for a bit, Penny slowly moving the length of the arena in search for Mercury. He was running out of places to be- unless he could somehow dodge the erratic movement of the blades without vision.

But that wasn't his plan, as he showed by lunging for her directly from the blizzard.

Penny reacted quickly, bringing up her arms to block the first kick, but she wasn't able to properly defend from the oncoming barrage. Her weapons were too far away- having all left in search of him.

"And Mercury grabs the upper hand with a flurry of blows! The end comes to soon, however, as Penny recovers her guard!"

True to his words, the blades had returned, and with a swing of several, Mercury was forced to back away.

That strategy wouldn't work twice, and it looked like he was on the end of his line. Penny was strong, which made sense given her fourth year status. It was almost unfair to pair them against the second year team, but such was how randomness worked.

Mercury didn't give up, though. Far from it, actually, as a sudden grin came over him.

"It looks like our friend Mercury has found something. Could it be enough to win?" Probably not, but that would ultimately depend on what it was, and there was only one way to find out.

* * *

Mercury smiled in a way that would no doubt be misinterpreted as sportsmanlike. He held out one hand, walking towards the android, and silently bringing his Aura to the front of his mind.

This was gonna hurt.

He didn't know what Emerald was making her see or hear, but it certainly wasn't the shouts of the match ending that Port was giving- nor the mixtures of cheers and disappointment from the crowd.

Pennys blades remained up- blocking off all means of attack.

There was one moment he knew she was under the illusion, for her eyes drifted down as though to track his face.

It was then that she struck- the blades coming out to knock his legs aside. They threw him into the air, doing little else but disorienting him, before she attacked again.

A single blow- another palm strike- that sent him careening through the blizzard and out the other end. His aura flared, taking much of the force with it, but it was impossible to miss the damage it had caused- especially when the board above started to signal that he was dangerously far below 10%.

Mercury clutched his chest, genuinely pained by the blow and unable to heal his aching ribs, but internally he was still smiling.

The crowd went ballistic.

* * *

 **So... How do you all like your present?**

 **It's good, isn't it.**

 **The two days early (and like 7 hours) isn't just a 1-off thing, since I felt it would be rather disingenuous to make you wait MORE than a week because I wanted to pay you back, so... Sundays it is, from now on. Forever.**

 **Penny is also finally debuted, and she is as powerful as ever. In the show, I firmly believe that she is the strongest non-adult character we have ever been introduced to. I don't think we've seen a Semblance for her, either, so she might be even more absurd than ever. I don't plan to introduce one, but it's a neat little thought experiment.**

 **Perhaps something to do with lying, as per her origins in** **Pinocchio** **?**

 **That's neither here nor there, for now, so instead I thought I'd bring in a quick question. Why is there only one Penny? If she could be manufactured once, they necessarily have the construction down to the smallest mechanism, and I call bullshit on them not being able to build another one at all.**

 **Even with just the showings in the Vytal Festival, she should have been in mass production- even with the new models lacking the soul inside of it. The weapons and physical body alone were more than broken enough to, in decently high numbers, simply walk into the Grimmlands and kill literally every single thing we've seen. Salem probably has some trump cards, but she would literally need to pull them out instantly- the ultimate in tactical advantages.**

 **Idiots.**


	26. Avalanche

**Do you people think I'm an idiot? Seriously- do you? Cause I got so many messages, and two full blown reviews, that basically read exactly that.**

 **I KNOW that Ciel's last name isn't Antego. I KNOW that Penny is a machine. I KNOW how memory banks and cameras work. I also know that Mercury and Emerald know those things too. I can't explain the Ciel part quite yet, because it'd be a massive spoiler for the chapter after this one, but come on. I am not an idiot and I have a plan.**

 **Jesus Christ- if you're going to criticize, bring up things that are actual problems. I hadn't even had a chance to resolve the issue, and people were instantly jumping to shouting solutions I was already going to use.**

 **As for the rest of you, thank you for not being like them. I appreciate the support- I really do.**

 **SentinelSlice in particular, you have my thanks.**

 **If you have any questions or concerns it doesn't look like I'll address, do bring them up. I am not infallible.**

* * *

"Explain yourself."

Ozpin was far less angry than Penny imagined Ironwood would be, and that confused her. She had received a lot of barely veiled insults, shoves, and even outright threats for whatever it was she had done, so it seems odd that he was almost calm.

His orders, then. How should she explain herself? She still didn't know what exactly she'd done wrong- she'd hit an opponent who was still above 30% Aura and won the fight. Regardless, it would be hard not to know what was being implied, so she instead brought up the file containing the memory of the fight. Ozpin's desktop whirred suddenly, and the screen changed to a video.

It was her vision, from the moment he smiled and began to approach. He strolled forward, a hand outstretched in a show of surrender, but he never voiced it- making it unofficial.

Then, as he got suitably close, Mercury Black ducked down as surged at her, an unfamiliar weapon coming out from his shirt and into one hand.

She struck swiftly and brutally, blasting him back and taking the victory with a single powerful blow.

The video ended there, and Penny turned to the headmaster expectantly.

"Very interesting, Miss Poledina," he said, taking a sip of his coffee before leaning forward on his desk. "I actually have an idea of what is happening to you. Does Atlas happen to have access to Emerald Sustrai's files?"

Penny shook her head.

"As I thought..." The headmaster sighed. "I and an associate of mine have a theory as to the huntresses Semblance- that being illusions cast on the individual. Tell me- can you see ultraviolet or infrared light?"

"I can see infrared- it was suggested as a countermeasure to the White Fang and their night vision."

Ozpin smiled. "Please play the clip through infrared."

The screen flashed again as blue, orange, and red filled it instead. The arena looked different, now, but Mercury Black stood there all the same. He smiled, walking towards her, and at the moment he attacked... Nothing- he simply took another step before being blasted away by her attack.

A look of realization came over her as to just what she'd seen, but... No rules had been broken. It was brutal, and the attack brought him low, but it was never intended to be lethal. He hadn't openly surrendered, either, as his lips hadn't opened to speak in that version either.

"Do you see both of these at the same time?"

Penny took a moment to realize what he meant.

"My eyes see both, yes, but in combat situations, it is easier to process only one type of vision. Trying to use both, when unnecessary, would only delay my reaction time." A smart idea from her Father, given the danger of her profession, but one that had apparently messed up her public image here.

"I am going to put you back in the tournament."

Her eyes widened as she stared at him. "I was out of it?"

"In a manner of speaking, you were disqualified by popular vote. The crowd thought your actions too unsportsmanlike for the competition. You dropped him to 3% Aura, an amount dangerously close to being crippled or dead."

She nodded. She'd seen the Aura meters for most of the match, and while she couldn't keep exact percentages while in the middle of battle, she'd easily seen the results afterward. But then... "Why would you let me back in?

He sighed, taking another sip of his coffee. He seemed distant, and his thoughts were clearly elsewhere, but he answered anyway. "Because I know that you did nothing wrong, and the tournament rules say you did nothing wrong. You were clearly the victor before that happened, and so long as you don't get into any extra trouble, I couldn't really do anything else."

That... Made sense. Superb!

"Is that everything, Headmaster?"

"For now, yes," Ozpin said, waving her off. "I'd like to speak with you again tomorrow- in private."

Penny nodded, heading for the door. The Headmaster was so weird sometimes; they were alone for the last hour.

As she stepped into the elevator, she turned back around, and idly noted a crow now perched upon the windowsill.

 _Oh dear- is it Fall already?_

* * *

The crowd was stilted this time- far quieter than normal- and it didn't take a genius to figure out why. The girl from the day prior- let off completely free for her brutal attack on Mercury.

Jaune turned his head toward the silver haired student. He was a bit away, sitting next to his partner in the stands. It was subtle, but even after being looked at by Tsune, the man leaned forward and kept a hand on his chest- a masked display of his injury.

He was holding up well for someone that low. He had no personal experience with it, since the only time he'd had his Aura even near that level he hadn't so much as noticed, but he could relate to cracked ribs and the like.

Ansel was as safe as towns came, but foolproof it was not.

Despite how well he was doing, though, it was clear that her callousness would linger for a few days at least, and that was only physically. A crushing defeat like that was often enough to end careers...

Jaune wouldn't stand for it- the instant this day was over, he would be having a few choice words with her at the very least.

With a solemn nod to his comrade, he turned back to the Arena. The teams were chosen- some second year team called WNND against a third year team from Shade called WIND.

That wasn't going to get confusing or anything.

* * *

Emerald smiled as she brought out her scroll- now connected to Watts' virus in place of Cinders. They'd used it before, through Mercury's, but it was finally her turn.

Team WNND had blown away their competition, as Port so eloquently put it, but she had a wonderful idea who to put next.

They might not even need to use an illusion for this to be a real crowd pleaser, but one didn't dabble with risk in their profession. It was one of the many lessons imparted on her since childhood, and it had yet to show any signs of failing.

The teams were chosen- the individual members being singled out to the arena to the applause of no one.

"Hey, Mercury- our friend is going to avenge you," she joked, putting her scroll back.

He smiled too, finally relaxing into his seat. "Do me proud, Jaune," he casually saluted.

An subtle application of her Semblance made sure he heard, along with the cheers of both his team and RPNR.

* * *

"Salutations, Jaune Arc!" Penny called out. "I look forward to battling you!"

 _And I look forward to beating you,_ he thought, silently taking up a position opposite her. He was fully kitted out, with shield and sword in hand but also his armor- the breastplate having been returned sometime after yesterday's match- and a new addition.

Okay, it wasn't new, but it's function certainly was. His scroll was on him again, the earbuds in place, yet he made no move to input music.

It was a loophole Weiss had come up with, since he could still hear the device while in combat. It was the same fundamental idea as a hearing aid, which they had actually made to order, but that couldn't arrive before the match.

Regardless, he could hear during combat, which was one less weakness for her to inevitably exploit.

Jaune watched the auburn-haired girl carefully, noting that her swords were retracted into her backpack again. Or, at least it looked like one. The key differences, and the ones that looked so obvious now, were the chrome color and rigidity.

Inside were a number of blades, likely weaker than his own intrinsically, but modified to be far more capable. They were guns, shields, and swords in one- a terrifying combination on it's own, but they weren't. She had quite a few of them to work with, and all perfectly able to act on their own.

This was going to be hard... Harder than Weiss, harder than Cardin, harder than Blake, and even harder than Venor.

There was no help; there were no traps or hidden tools to use; there wasn't even any terrain.

A massive barren circle of white was all they had, and he was going to have to live up to his title as knight.

Jaune spared one final glance up to his team, seeing their support. Yang was shouting loud enough for him to actually hear through the crowd, and he certainly did plan to pull a Nora and break her legs. Figuratively, of course. Of course...

Blake was considerably calmer about it, giving him a nod and flashing him a small smile.

And then there was Weiss. Or, rather, there wasn't.

Panic set in instantly, his eyes quickly roving the stands for her. A shock of white amidst the crowd- her icy blue eyes staring back at him- anything.

Nothing.

 _"Begin!"_

Jaune barely got his shield up in time to block the first blow..

* * *

Winter fell into her seat, barely caring for the casual air it gave off. She was off duty, for the moment, so she might as well enjoy the tournament. That was the official story, anyway, and the one she told her sister's team.

Her eyes remained on the fight, judging each competitors every movement. Penny moved purposefully, no energy wasted as she fell into a rhythm of launching attacks and sidestepping his.

It was fluid, but also clearly practiced. Her form was flawless, much like her own, though the absence of her weapon was clearly reducing her effectiveness. That was, perhaps, the point. A way to test both herself and her opponent.

Jaune was... Jaune wasn't, frankly. He seemed terrified, and was entirely reactionary as he repeatedly looked away from the fight. He was searching for something... Someone...

He locked eyes with her, for but an instant, and she understood, but...

A simple glance to her side showed Weiss sitting beside her.

 _Interesting..._

* * *

A palm to the chest had him gasping- not for breath, but rather from pain. He lept backwards, avoiding another strike, as his attention properly turned to his opponent.

She was taking advantage of his confusion- of course she was- and he wouldn't be able to find Weiss if he was injured. With a breath, one his opponent was willing to give him, he set himself up in a familiar stance.

Together, they charged, Crocrea Mors being blocked with both hands.

That backfired- her guard grumbling as the strike pushed her down. She took a step back, but Jaune merely pressed further, tipping her over.

Penny fell, the ground cracking slightly as she impacted the floor. She looked up at him- expression completely unchanged- as he swung his blade downward.

It met four others, and though they too failed to block the attack, the other four protected her another way- digging into the ground a distance away and reeling her in.

Jaune narrowed his eyes- deliberately. If she was pulled- there was something connecting them. A wire- Aura- something- and if he could see it, perhaps he could cut it. He'd seen the fight with Mercury, and knew just how devastating they could be, and disabling them was a priority.

No such luck, though. All he could see was the tiniest glint of light, just around the metal container on her back, which didn't help him if he couldn't get him melee. He needed to find where the wired met the blades- somehow...

An idea came to him- one so crazy, it might just work.

Jaune relaxed, facing her flatly, as he pointed a finger towards her blades. "Those are pretty cool- how do they work?"

It hurt just saying that, considering who he was talking to, but she simply smiled wider. "Thanks! My father designed them! I control the blades through wires that go from my backpack to the pommel of the swords!"

Silently, Jaune wished he came from some other Kingdom. Some other species- even- hell, not even the Faunus were excused from this. Right now, he'd either witnessed the greatest act of stupidity or arrogance.

Regardless, he had his answer, and he charged once more.

She played defense, but struck back hard, throwing her blades out. He managed to evade most, but took a pair of slashes along his side. No matter- as his goal was completed by that very action.

He slipped his shield back into a sheathe, hanging it loosely on his hip, as that hand instead took hold of one of the swords. It fought him- trying to tear itself free- but he ignored it in favor of bringing his sword down.

Sword met wire, and with his semblance, the victor was a foregone conclusion.

Except that he didn't take into account it's length- the wire simply bulging downward instead of breaking.

 _Dammit,_ Jaune cursed flipping backwards and abandoning the captured sword in favor of dodging the other seven. They followed after, swerving in the air to keep up with him.

Jaune ran, ducking away from a few as he built up space. They had to have a limited range of some kind- and he was proven right as they froze in the air. Problem was, that what was roughly the radius of the fighting area, so if she ever took centerstage, she could keep him in range the entire battle.

She knew that too, if her confident stride forward was of any indication.

He grit his teeth, unable to really stop her from taking a position at the center. She continued to smile as she casually strolled to the middle, the only indication that the fight has so much as crossed her mind was held in her eyes- the intense focus with which she watched him.

It was so easy- so calm- that it put him on edge. This wasn't a contest- it was a slaughter- and she seemed to recognize just how thoroughly outclassed he was.

There was a moment of pause as she took her place, eyes still intently gauging his every action. That pause wasn't silent, however, and the crowd seemed to go still as she gave him a cryptic suggestion. "Have fun, Arc."

Jaune batted aside one of the oncoming blades, his shield absorbing most of the impact as he sprinted forward. His team was counting on him. There was no way he would lose here... Not to her, and certainly not after that.

She spoke so easily, her voice completely level as she sent attack after attack his way. "You seem distressed."

Well of course he was. Did she expect him not to be when he had to dodge or block a seemingly endless series of sword swings? The fight had only been going on for a little over a minute by this time, but his muscles were already starting to ache. Whenever he managed an opening or gave himself a moment to rest, his opponent merely increased the intensity with which she struck.

There was no relaxing in this fight- not that he had expected it. If there was anything he'd learned from his time at Beacon, he was a small fish from a small pond who had been thrown directly into the ocean.

He needn't fight to survive- he could always surrender- but that wasn't an path he was willing to take. He had people counting on him.

It was that burning sensation in the forefront of his mind when he held his shield out before him and broke out into a sprint.

Fighting strategically wasn't working. Penny's speed and versatility both outclassed him. His only real advantage was in defense- both in the form of his shield and semblance.

He had to crush her. That was the only option.

As attacks ricocheted off of his shield, he did not slow. Her range was superior too, but that generally meant he could win if only he got in close. Uncharacteristic rage flowed through him as he glanced at his opponents face. She was smiling, still. It taunted him, as she no doubt knew it would.

She wasn't stupid, though nobody believed that in the first place. As he approached, she tried to circle off to the side- obviously aware of the edge of their fighting grounds.

He wouldn't allow it. As she moved, he forced himself forward, even as the attacks grew in both strength and accuracy. Crocea Mors couldn't block everything. Expecting that would have been foolish. However, it was at this time that Jaune realized just how little of him it could actually defend.

The edges repeatedly slid across his arms, legs, and back, tearing his aura apart. He didn't feel any pain, though. Such was the pure adrenaline coursing through his veins as he charged the final few feet.

He flung his shield forward, bashing it into his opponent. He heard no sound as he continued forward, using all of his strength to lift his enemy off of her feet.

No cries reached his ears as he slammed her into the ground. That ticked him off more than he thought it would.

Was he not worthy of acknowledgement, even now?

"RAH" he cried, raising his own sword up above his head.

It came down, but not as an attack.

Crocea Mors fell from his grip, red liquid tainting the normally pristine metal.

He still didn't feel pain, but he knew he should, even before he looked down at his chest. Without so much as moving her arms, the blades he'd come to know so well shown through him.

"Oh."

The blades withdrew, taking his ability to remain upright with it. Strangely, the only thought that went through his mind as his vision turned black was a simple observation. That flash before his eyes- the one he'd been told for years would be there... There was none.

Even in death, he'd been lied to.

* * *

 **I finally get to use this scene! Yes!**

 **This fight was actually written, at least in part, before the first chapter was even plotted out. This was the second thing I ever created for Excalibrrr, following only the original version of initiation.**

 **Some slight edits were made, but it remained roughly the same. I might not excel at dialogue, but you know I'll always be there for an action scene when they come up. I love all of them- the anticlimax, the joke, the rivals, the betrayal- and yes- the defeat.**

 **I hope to see you all next week, when the Fall of Beacon begins in earnest.**


	27. Storm Warning (Author Note)

**I'm sure many of you will be annoyed with this decision, but I will not be posting an ordinary chapter this week. I can't, frankly, as the only way I could possibly end it is on an obnoxious cliffhanger which I don't want to do for the finale. As such, the chapter release will be delayed to next week, but the chapter itself will be massive. I hope you understand.**

 **The next chapter won't be the last one, or anything, but it covers two of the major fights and their resolutions, and due to their relation to one another, they need to be told together.**

 **Feel free to review or message any questions to me- I'd be happy to post updates on this chapter as I write. I've more than had my break from Fickle Things, so I'm writing for you guys at this point, and I'd rather not put out something that confuses you all.**

 **For now, though, I shall see you all next week with the chapter Arctic Winter and the fall of Beacon.**


	28. Arctic Winter

**Several people reviewed the last real chapter, asking certain questions about the fight, and I figured it'd be better to answer them here rather than at the end of the first like the rest.**

 **So, here we go.**

 **Emerald had plenty to do with it, but she didn't conjure the blades inside him or anything like that. She was mostly after Jaune here, making Penny seem far more malicious both before and after the fight and cutting out the sound of the announcers and Aura meters. I established during the Breach that he, while using his semblance, can't actually feel how low his Aura is.**

 **Penny, meanwhile, has seen this dude literally ignore basically every attempt she's made to noticeably damage him. Excluding denting his chest piece, he was never actually affected by her attacks. Given that, she was actually increasing the strength of her strikes as the fight progressed until- when Jaune was drained below 30% of his Aura- she thought the battle over.**

 **And then he attacked, completely defying the rules, and for that transgression, she defended herself.**

 **As for your other critiques, Penny has a soul. I can write the mechanics of Emeralds semblance how I please to make this work, and she was supposedly altering Penny's perception a little anyway (Remember the line, two minds are a stretch? Who would the second be, if not Penny?) Attacking Mercury was supposed to be a setup- much like with Yang- except they were intentionally going to set the crowd against Penny to be used again in the later fight. Imagine if you saw this kind of treatment in a boxing match.**

 **How much more impactful than a bloodless robot being torn to pieces would seeing an already hated individual impale their opponent and kill them?**

 **And during that last fight, she was. All Emerald needed to do was mess with Jaune for the desired result.**

 **As for keeping her out, do you really thing they could successfully do that? Arresting her would be near impossible, given the public sympathy for her team on top of her own evasive skills, and she could literally sneak in however she wants. Mercury managed to do it without being spotted, so I don't imagine it would be any harder for her.**

 **Oh, and I know I am misspelling 'Tyrian' as 'Tyrion', but it will always be Tyrion to me because of Game Of Thrones. That has no plot relevance, but because of the Ciel thing, I didn't want any of you getting the wrong idea.**

 **Thanks- everyone- and I hope you enjoy this part of the fall of Beacon.**

* * *

The entire stadium collectively held their breath, and in the moment of silence, those in the front could actually hear the sickening squelch of the swords ripping themselves out of Jaune's body.

As his body smacked into the ground, there was still no sounds or movement.

Except from Weiss, who shot over the railing and into the stadium, a glyph appearing beneath her to send her the rest of the way. She landed beside him, Myrtenaster in hand, and encased his entire body in a block of ice.

The cameras were cut, and Port came over the loudspeakers to ask for calm, but it was all for not as the stadium exploded. Shouts rang out- too many and too loud to possibly be understood- but the rage was apparent. It was also clear who it was directed at.

Weiss also turned to Penny, and though her eyes couldn't change colors like Yang's, to any observer, they were burning with the same anger.

She stepped forward, her rapier raised before her, and the intent clear, but everything was drowned out by a sudden spurt of static.

It was loud- louder than every Grimm or vehicle on Remnant- and after it shocked everyone into silence, it was gone. It was replaced, though, with a feminine voice that spoke through the very same speakers Port and Watts were now absent from. She was quieter, and instilled a kind of submissive calm with her overbearing authority.

 _"People of Remnant!"_ she began. _"This is not a tragic accident nor the result of teenage arrogance. Atlas has declared war on Vale. Military operatives have taken to the streets and watched Beacon for weeks now, and they have even turned away ships from our harbors. The greatest sign, however, is standing right before you."_

A brief moment passed, the crowd turning away from the screens and to Penny- the hatred tangible in the air.

 _"Penny Poledina is not a student of Atlas- she isn't even human. She is a machine, designed by the military, to look and act human. Yet, as we can plainly see, it is a war machine; meant only to fight and to kill. Why would they need this against the Grimm? To them, appearance is irrelevant. This was meant to wage war against the kingdoms, and given its disguise, there is no way to tell who you can trust."_

 _"Many of you may be thinking that this was still an accident- an unfortunate result of programming- but I can assure you that this was no such thing. James Ironwood knew this would happen, and that Vale would be the ones to suffer most from the negativity, which is why- even with his flagship still here- the Good General is nowhere to be seen."_

She took a breath, letting it out in an angry sigh.

 _"Alas, they shall get away with it now, won't they? After all- nobody will be able to stop the-"_

The voice cut out, as suddenly has it had come, and though the message was incomplete, the damage was done.

An emergency alert came up on the screens, displaying a danger sign. The alert that came with it was hardly helpful, either.

 **"Category Eleven Grimm Warning. Please arm yourself and seek shelter."**

* * *

"Category eleven?!" Peter demanded, turning to Watts. "What in blazes is a category eleven!? Mountain Glenn was only a category nine!"

Watts was remarkably calm about it, probably resigned to his fate if the sigh he gave was any indication. "What is a category nine, Port?"

That was easy. "When a Kingdom is at risk of being overwhelmed."

"And what would be worse than that?"

Worse than a chance of being wiped off the map? Well... Being wiped off the map. "But if that's ten..."

"Every Kingdom on Remnant is at risk, with Vale likely to fall." Watts tugged on his tie, straightening it. "Given the nature of the attack, Atlas will likely follow suit soon after as well."

Peter blinked, turning back to gaze through the glass at the stadium. It was muffled enough for them to talk, but the utter pandemonium was as clear as day as people were trampled in a desperate bid to escape the arena.

He blamed them- of course he did- but it was understandable the three Nevermore rending the Amity Barrier would scare them.

"I'm going to help however possible- I assume you can get out of here?"

He nodded. "Of course. I have someone to escort me to a bullhead."

Something in Ports instincts told him that it was a lie. He was trying to get him to leave- to protect the others.

Peter spared one more glance to the sky, noting how the sky had turned black despite the daytime. He couldn't stay to protect him, and with one final nod, he crashed through the glass and into the Colosseum.

* * *

"After all- nobody will be able to stop the-"

Emeralds eyes widened as she was flung to the side- narrowly evading a sword which splintered the ground where she'd been. Even with Mercury's save, Emerald had to scramble for purchase on some nearby stairs to evade a wave of fire that sought to envelope her.

Only one person kind of person could done something like that, and as she met her assailants eyes, she recognized the embers framing them.

The Maiden had come to them, and- in doing so- proved every single one of their expectations wrong.

"Schnee," Emerald greeted, all courtesy absent in her town. "How nice of you to join us."

Winter didn't respond with words, but rather a burst of air which caught them both- slamming them to the ground. With the distance between them, she had to pick a target, and she chose correctly.

Emerald swiped her kama's in a wide arc, the chains extending to catch Winter before she entered melee. Winter didn't dodge, or even move to block the strike, but she still defended with an explosion which knocked them aside.

That left her overextended, forcing her to retreat. She wasn't allowed to; Winter threw her hands forward, a powerful wind cutting across both side of her, before it pulled back. Emerald had no way to dodge it completely without going airborne, which would leave her even more vulnerable to attack, so she flattened herself to the ground.

The gust tore across her, the air moving fast enough to scratch her even through her Aura. The damage was minimal, though, and that was the goal.

Being prone was a danger, though, and that had to be dealt with first. Fortunately, she wasn't alone.

While Winter made to attack, a kick thrown towards her head from Mercury forced her to defend for a moment. That was enough for Emerald to get up, getting out of Winter's sightline and retracting the chains of her weapons.

Mercury kept close, batting aside her hands whenever she tried to attack in turn. He didn't strike himself, though, simply keeping her guard open as he prevented her from gaining any distance.

She wasn't as skilled as Cinder was with the powers- that's for sure. While she used the different elements, she still needed full gestures to control it, and any kind of movement could be a vulnerability against a skilled opponent. Whatever their past grievances, Emerald had always known Mercury was the more gifted fighter of the two.

Which is why she was opening fire with her guns rather than entering melee.

The storm of bullets seared the back of her military uniform, but did little else as she rolled to the side.

Hardly needed, given that her weapon drained its clip in a little over a second.

That did, however, leave her free to attack. Not from Mercury, as a wave of fire rose in between them, and not from her given the distance.

A leg met her abdomen and sent her flying, and- before she could even land- and overhand chop of a bladed hand slammed her into the ground. Standing over her, with a manic grin, Tyrian Callows kicked again, sending her rolling.

Winter recovered, using a wave of icy shrapnel to keep them back long enough to stand, but her resolve was suddenly weakened. Emerald and Mercury, working together, had a slim chance of taking her down. Tyrian, meanwhile? He had that by himself.

Emerald took the moment of hesitation for what it was- an opportunity to regroup. She moved slowly, making sure not to come off as a threat, as she put herself behind Mercury.

Their opponents best options were wide spread attacks, which the Maiden powers and her natural semblance gave her in spades, but those still had an Aura cost, and Tyrian was crazy enough to just jump through them anyway. Given enough time, and his poison?

Checkmate.

* * *

Watts watched patiently through the broken viewing glass as Nevermore shattered the barrier protecting the arena. Plenty of people had gathered, from students to staff, while most fled the Colosseum entirely.

They wouldn't get far. Any Bullhead that took off would be torn apart and dropped into the forest below. The Grimm were hardly organized enough for a proper blockade, but with enough Griphons and Nevermore blocking the skies and- though he couldn't see it from here- the Ursae and Beowulfs on the ground, travel was all but impossible.

Even he, and the rest of Salem's crew, would be taken out of the skies, as the Grimm wouldn't recognize them through the hull of a ship.

Which is why he hadn't been lying about an escort. The only falsehood was that he was leaving.

"Would you believe me if I said I was glad to see you?"

Hazel grunted, doing little else in greeting, as he gestured for him to follow. Watts did, rising out of his chair and leisurely strolling after him. They made their way into the stands, watching the battle on the arena floor as they moved.

The Nevermore and Gryphons that came in were strong, and the students were struggling to hold them back, but they had the advantage in numbers. Most of the Grimm were flooding to the city or the bullhead docks on the sides of Amity, so the comparatively little negativity in here wouldn't attract too many.

It was a good distraction, certainly, as it kept prying eyes from focusing on the two adults casually strolling outside.

A block of ice in the center, along with the Schnee girl who stood atop it, defending it from even the smallest bits of damage, caught his attention. She would be useful to their cause- particularly if they protected her during the invasion- but that was hardly important now.

If Atlas survived the attack, the SDC would be responsible, and with the damage to the White Fang's reputation- and faunus at large, by association- they would be in the greatest position of power on Remnant.

Yes... After the Maiden, they'd be coming back.

Watts turned away from the battlefield, following Hazel down some maintenance corridor. It was empty, the technicians long since reaching their stations or- more likely- abandoning the Colosseum entirely.

Getting to the Maiden from here wasn't a particularly difficult task, given the fact that they were a simple fall from Beacon's courtyards, but there was someone they had to collect first.

Damn Cinder for dying on them... She would be down there now, getting it, and he could just escape. Now, he had to grab her runts.

Now that he thought of it, damn Ozpin too for making the Maiden powers female exclusive. Everything about Salem's goals would be so much easier of he or Hazel could get them and the relics.

Lord help them if they ever made their job easy- they might just blo-

Watts threw himself to the side, his softened instincts just barely warning him before a blast of green light knocked the two of them apart. He rolled to a stop, ignoring the pain in his shoulder to look at the assailant- as though he needed to.

Ozpin.

It looked like he just might get to damn the man himself.

* * *

Winter drew her rapier into a defensive slant, allowing her to block the new man by whatever angle he chose. He smiled broadly, teeth covered in the same sheen as his tail. It was that of a scorpion, and clearly as dangerous as the weapons strapped to his hands.

Slowly, she shuffled backwards. He didn't follow her, though he did stand a little straighter. "Winter Schnee."

At her name, Winter froze, staring at him. Plenty of people knew of who she was- given her family- but she'd been disowned years ago. Unless he kept track of the military, which he very well might have, she should have been forgotten.

"And you are?" she tried, narrowing her eyes at him.

"Who am I?" he asked rhetorically, shrugging to himself. "Oh, how the mighty have fallen. Many years ago, there were few who hadn't heard of Tyrion Callows."

The name was unfamiliar, and seemed Mistralian. Perhaps Ironwood would have known, but she certainly didn't. Tyrion seemed disappointing at her lack of reaction, but her hardly let that keep him down, and he actually smiled as he turned his attention to the sky.

His scroll had beeped an instant prior- a notification of a message- and he immediately turned to the Atlesian flagship.

What would he want with the flagship? It was important to the defense of Beacon, sure, but the Maidens were his goal... Right?

Was there anything of interest on the ship itself? Sensitive data was on all of them, but he hardly seemed the type to want military secrets. The droid controls? They would need some kind of elite hacker to take those over, and nobody of those skills was supposed to even exist. The prisoners, then? Roman Torchwick was up there, and he was involved with their machinations before.

Did they plan to take over the ship with Roman? Granted, he was a powerful huntsman, but against an entire ship?

Even then, if they wanted him free, they could probably have done it at any time with Emerald's semblance. They needed him up there for something. Was he going to shoot down the other ships? That was hardly necessary now, given that they were all under fierce Grimm attack and any bombardment would be more of a help than a hindrance.

 _Oh, Oum, are they going to fire on us?!_

It would be overkill so many times over, but it would be effective, and the person she thought of last would almost certainly be either Weiss or Emerald. They would know that, and Weiss would be far less able to defend herself than she could.

So long as the rest of them could escape the blast radius- which would explain why Tyrion was holding back- there was nothing she could really do.

Cruel and genius- a deadly combination. Perhaps Tyrion was more dangerous than she thou-

Guitar riffs shook the ground as the air seemed to explode with sound. The sky around the flagship cleared of Grimm as a wave of sheer force pushed them back. The music hardly stopped there, as the tempo gradually built into a crescendo.

The style seemed remarkably familiar, though it was difficult to place while she protected her hearing with two hands. Tyrion was moving, though not to attack. He was dancing... Sort of. He moved to the beat, tapping a foot to the beat of the drums and using a hand to outline the tone.

It was clearly a song he'd heard several times, which meant nothing to her personally, but it did imply one thing.

That the song was what he was waiting for.

Winter's head fell into her hands as she stopped to process her opponents stupidity. Hijacking an elite combat ship to use a prototype anti-Grimm weapon... As a stereo.

Maybe humanity did deserve to be knocked down a few pegs.

The moment passed as quickly as it game, the guitar fading at the peak of an extended note, and Tyrion let his hands fall to his side. He smiled, closing his eyes amidst the relative silence.

A kick- both musical and literal- came at her instantly.

 **All the trees hold hands together- facing the sky!**

Winter blocked his foot along the side of her blade, using her second hand near the tip to brace it against his weight. The impact alone sent her skidding back several feet, but her guard held, and his momentum bled out.

That wasn't the end of his attack, though, and as he fell to the ground, he rolled along one shoulder and threw himself up at her again.

 _ **I never understood why the sheep listen to the lie.**_

The strike was deflected, sending his arm off to one side, and Winter capitalized on it by stabbing her sword down into his chest.

Tyrion faded from view, dissolving into the air. Her instincts flared, sensing his lethal intent off to one side, and she summoned a glyph between them. Winter turned, the white circle holding the attacker back easily enough.

That was to be expected- Mercury wasn't strong enough to break it.

 **The leaves that block out the sun turn the forest dark!**

A blade dug into her shoulder from behind, and though her Aura stopped any permanent damage, Winter still winced as she whirled around and slashed for the faunus. Tyrion stepped back- just past the tip of her rapier- before coming in for a second strike.

It missed, given that Winter ducked, but the tell tale sign of a glyph shattering showed the telegraphed attacks true aim.

 _ **Reality is brutal, and the violence of it stark.**_

With less speed than Tyrion, but just as much striking power, Mercury's foot slammed into the back of one knee. It buckled, forcing Winter down.

Rather than kneel, Winter rolled to one side, evading a punch from Tyrion that sent a spiderweb of cracks across the ground.

 **In the dark, the hunter can't see the beasts fangs!**

As she came to a stop, Winter rose, unwilling to give them a moment of vulnerability if she had the chance. Her rapier came up before her, as though a shield, since the added reach would be deterrent enough against the primarily melee fighters.

Her legs were torn backwards by some invisible force- only becoming clear as chains around her ankles entered the visible spectrum.

 _ **Can't you hear it? The primal will within pangs.**_

Winter growled, erupting a wave of flames in all directions. The grip on her legs lessened, freeing her, and both Emerald and Mercury pulled away from her.

The same was not true for Tyrion, who dove through the flames with a war cry and broad open-mouthed grin. His first attacked was dodged by rolling under him- putting her behind him- but he simply flipped backwards to fire some gun built into his wrist blades directly into her chest.

 **TONIGHT!**

 **The hunter's hunted by the Beast!**

Searing pain shot through her as a rib was displaced, but Winter forced herself past it in order to summon a field of glyphs around her- including one directly beneath.

As Tyrion came in for the next attack, she shot upwards, evading it entirely and placing herself upside down on another glyph.

 **TONIGHT!**

 _ **The beast has been unleashed!**_

Winter zipped around, scratching him with her rapier even through his Aura with each pass. Tyrion seemed largely unaffected by the attacks, even laughing directly at her when he managed sidestep one of them, but the mechanics of Aura alone meant she had to be doing something.

Amidst her assault on Tyrion, she unleashed bursts of fire and lightning upon Emerald, forcing her to seek cover and preventing another illusion from being cast over her.

He just didn't care, and as she came in once more- faster than most could even see- her charge was met with an arm across her gut.

 **Rip and tear- claw and bite; it will end you all this night.**

Tyrion spun with the impact, throwing her off and racing after her. While she landed on her feet, without a glyph to stop upon, she skid backwards and couldn't recover her balance in time to defend.

He ducked past her defensive sword swing and kicked upwards, cracking the toe of his boot into her jaw.

 _ **Run and hide- fight and die; I will always be nearby.**_

Winter flipped through the air, eventually finding herself embedded into the Colosseum wall.

She pulled herself off the wall immediately, the pain of the impact completely lost to the desire to move. The wall shattered behind her, as Tyrion crashed through it entirely, and she took that opportunity to sprint away.

If she could find people to fight with, she might be able to turn the tide. Someone- anyone would do.

 **The birds circle from above, seeking their next meal.**

A splash of white came into view as it rounded a corner- an Atlas uniform. The girl wearing it had no weapon out, but presumably others would be nearby.

"Get help!" she ordered, changing directions so as not to lead any of her assailants to the girl.

She didn't get a verbal reply, but by the look of recognition on the girls face, and her nod once she'd seen Tyrion burst out from whatever place the new hole in the wall led, she got the message.

 _ **You won't deny me, will you? Just bow your head and heel.**_

Winter lept forward, turning in the air to enter a defensive stance with her rapier towards Tyrion.

He met the weapon with both of his, using the blades to hold her sword in place. A contest of strength- and one that suited her perfectly, given that the glyphs which erupted around them could force either of them to move.

They shattered moments later, the telltale scent of Dust emanating from her right- where that girl was.

There was barely enough time to look to her side, seeing the still silent girl smiling coyly in her direction- a familiar rifle in hand- before she was thrown back. Whatever the song was, it erupted into a violent and wordless climax as Tyrion crashed down atop her.

* * *

"Let's see- where did I put it?" Roman asked to no one in particular as he scoured his pockets. Eventually they settled on his left breastpocket and pulled out an old burner scroll. Well, not old for him, seeing as he'd always had things before they even hit shelves.

By now, Tyrion was off having his fun, and the rest of Cinder's friends would be cleaning up shop around Beacon. He could just sit back and relax.

Mostly, anyway. He was missing two key parts of that.

A cigar, primarily. Even after Arthur took over, none had mysteriously found their way into his cell.

The other...

"Neo!"

No words came back through the scroll, not that he expected any. The call ended as quickly as it was answered, the message carried in that single word. He closed the device and slid it into the console before him.

His job complete, he fell back into the pilots chair. Whatever program Arthur had created would work itself, since the man apparently didn't trust him to press buttons.

Now all there was to do was wait for Neo to return from her check in with Tyrion and skip town.

"To the fall," he toasted with a stolen flask, downing it in one.

This was gonna be a long few minutes.

* * *

Hazel held his tongue, swallowing down the rage and eventually letting it all out in a sigh. Calmly, his eyes trailed to the side, easily recognizing the figure of Beacon's headmaster- Ozpin. The silhouette alone brought the anger back to the forefront of his mind, but with gritted teeth, Hazel merely turned towards him.

Years had done little to him- the only visible change being his hair, having finally turned entirely grey. His coat had been discarded and his cane was held before him as he looked between him and Watts.

Eventually they settled on him, brown meeting brown as their eyes locked together.

Here he was, after all this time, and he didn't even have the decency to wait until the civilians were dealt with.

Hazel took a deep breath, closing his eyes as he let it out in a long sigh.

Then he was gone, only becoming visible again after his fist crashed into Ozpin's diaphragm. Hazel moved with it, pivoting to one side and lifting his arm up- sending the traitorous wizard flying.

He spun in the air, landing on the ceiling long enough to vanish in an equal burst of speed.

Hazel didn't bother trying to track him directly, but rather watched the green flow of energy that followed behind him. It snaked around him, forming a rough semicircle, and flashed directly behind him. Stabbing him in the back- he was getting predictable.

The ground cracked as Hazel slammed his palms into it, steadying himself as he flipped his legs up behind him. Ozpin saw readily enough, and pulled back on his attack, but didn't account for Hazel shoving off the ground.

Both feet met his chest, the sheer weight difference knocking Ozpin over. As they fell, Ozpin lashed out with his cane, scoring a number of unblocked strikes..

They went ignored as Ozpin hit the ground, leaving Hazel standing atop him. He turned around, placing his legs on either side of Ozpin's gut, and straddled him.

"Long time no see, Hazel," Ozpin greeted calmly. "I would have liked to say it was a pleasure, but I wouldn't want to lie."

Hazel started at him, silent as he watched the mans eyes. He was unmoving and equally unnerved. All that was happening around him, something which Hazel was barely willing to remain indifferent towards, and he had the same lack of care as Salem.

He hated it.

A meaty fist crashed into the side of Ozpin's face, audibly cracking his jaw.

Ozpin turned back to him, and despite the initial appearance of pain, he looked no less tranquil for it.

Hazel punched him again, and again, and again as he beat his anger into him. "What is wrong with you!?" he demanded, slamming both hands into his forehead in unison. " _Where_ is your sadness- your anger!? _Your humanity!_ " He paused, breathing heavily, as he gave him a chance to answer.

Face bloody, with both his jaw and nose broken, Ozpin still merely met his eyes. "My humanity, huh?" He sounded almost contemplative, as if he'd forgotten. "If only you knew what humanity was truly like."

Another fist crashed into his face, and just like before, it was barely acknowledged.

"Tell me- who are you fighting for now, Hazel?"

"Gretchen!" he shouted back, grabbing his shoulders. "You sent her to her death, and I will never forgive you for that!"

Ozpin rolled his eyes. "She knew the risks, Hazel. If anything, you should be blaming Salem for what happened."

Hazel's eyes widened in fury and his hands found themselves around the old man's throat. "You're worse than her, Ozpin! She could wipe us all out in an instant if she wanted, but she doesn't as a courtesy! YOU are the reason people have to die!"

The choking, more than anything else, got to him. Ozpin still tried to breathe, the most natural of instincts, which made it all the more monstrous that he didn't struggle for it. With an inhuman ease, Ozpin closed his eyes, allowing himself to suffocate at Hazel's hands.

Almost a minute passed before the pulse in his neck disappeared, at which point he finally relaxed his grip. Slowly, Hazel stood, never looking away from the face of that... He hesitated to call it a man, for too many reasons to count.

Watts was still nearby, having waited at the edge of a nearby corridor as the actual fighter of the two dealt with Ozpin. He came out now, taking a moment to examine the body, before shaking his head and walking off.

"We've lost a lot of time," he said, opening a door leading out. "Emerald was interrupted- we need to check in on them."

"Right," Hazel agreed, sparing one last look at Ozpin's corpse. The anger he felt was muted now, but still present, as he knew the bastard was alive somewhere. Salem had explained his 'curse', as he apparently called it, and that meant his debt would never truly be payed.

With a sigh, Hazel followed after Watts.

The door closed behind them, entombing Ozpin within Amity. Or, it would, if a certain heart didn't beat once more.

* * *

Winter hissed as Tyrion's weight settled on her. He wasn't particularly heavy, and she could easily throw him off with a glyph, but the impact itself was the mans goal.

Her rapier was knocked away, settling beside Ciel's feet. In the same motion, Tyrion flipped back up to his feet to escape a burst of flame that emanated around her.

An overt illusion was cast over her- it was easy to tell when all of her opponents vanished from sight- but recognizing that didn't make responding to it any easier. If she was taken into a combo here, the fight was over.

So, she did the only thing she could think of. Raising her hands on each side, she summoned a barrage of lightning.

Several bolts arced towards her opponents, signalling their location, and Winter lunged forward to kick the nearest one. Based on the grunt, she'd hit Mercury.

 _Dammit,_ she swore, looking around for somewhere to escape to. Bullets impacted her side, chipping into her Aura, but there was no way to defend herself from them, so she dashed for one of the entrances to the Colosseum.

They followed- and even without the ability to see them, she could hear the approaching footsteps- forcing her to shoot forward using glyphs.

The sounds of battle were still audible within. Students vs Grimm, probably, but even students would be able to help in large numbers.

A pair of new faces, Watts and someone she didn't recognize- probably a bodyguard of some kind- rounded a corner in front of her. They looked between her and her pursuers for a moment, before nodding.

 _Fool me twice,_ she thought, summoning a series of glyphs in the air. She sprung forward, bounding around the corridor and past them as well.

The vomitorium opened into the stands, giving her a clear view of the battleground beyond. A number of students, around twenty or so, were busy cutting apart a pair of Giant Nevermore which had landed. The sky above was packed with more Grimm, primarily Gryphons, which stuck to a hit and run tactic instead.

Only two people stood out to her- Weiss, for obvious reasons, and Jaune, who was encased in a massive block of ice. It didn't take a genius to figure out why, given the red coloration of the ice around his chest.

A few of the other students were injured as well, though none to that degree. Most hid it well, only clutching at their shoulder or gritting their teeth in the momentary breaks they received from the fight.

They needed help, and she was in the opposite of a position to give it to them.

"AYE, YE BEASTY! Yer a lively one!" a voice shouted from above. Winter looked towards it as she moved down the stands- keeping whatever distance she had on her pursuers. Near the ceiling, a particularly large Gryphon suddenly shrieked in anger and dove down. It didn't dive towards anyone, though, and that's what got her attention.

It crashed, directly into the ground, and atop its head, stood Professor Peter Port.

Winter made her way through the stands to him, careful to keep an ear out for her assailants. They were either gone or invisible again, and it would take other parties to truly tell which was true.

The Maiden was likely their main goal in all of this, so it wouldn't make sense to leave her be, but it was difficult to argue that Amity wasn't a prison. It was flying, which kept them most people from leaving, and though she wasn't among them, it would prevent her from acquiring large amounts of help.

Presumably they had a way off without crashing it, since Amity would simply kill them all in a colossal explosion if they chose that route. Maybe if she could sabotage it somehow, or use it herself, she could escape.

As it stood, she was pinned, and so she called out to Peter as she approached.

He turned, and a smile immediately spread over his face. "Ho, lass! Good to see you!"

Winter ignored the fact that they'd never met before and skipped straight to the point of approaching him. "I am under attack by a high level huntsman and several student level aides. There are also two more who I don't know the strength of."

The smile didn't leave his face, but from the creasing of her eyebrows, he clearly heard the message. "I don't see anyone now, 'sides the students and you- of course- but I'll try and help however I can. Would you do the same here?"

He got a nod before she was off, taking to the skies.

* * *

Watts groaned, doing a 180 to face the rest of the group. It didn't take a genius- though he was, certainly- to figure out why the girl was being chased.

Emerald, Mercury, Tyrion, Hazel, and himself. There was no doubt they could take on anyone on Remnant sans-Salem, but Emerald and Mercury would be targeted by the Grimm, making them useless in there, and the number students with unknown abilities would be an issue.

She would also know they would try and draw her away, so that wasn't happening. Perhaps they could blow up the arena?

It wouldn't be hard, given that the maintenance areas for the engines were almost certainly abandoned, but at least one of their group would have to stay behind and sink with the ship.

There wasn't a personal issue with that, but he doubted anyone would actually agree to take that role, and he certainly wasn't going to.

"We have company," Mercury said. Watts followed the teen's gaze, looking down a nearby branching corridor to see-

Watts' eyes widened. It... It was...

Inhuman.

The distant form was no less horrifying for the space between them. It had angelic wings and a white glow that emanated from it, which would normally make something beautiful, if not for its specific construction. It had too many wings, randomly placed on its body at differing angles, and the white glow didn't fully mask the eyes which coated the figures skin. Not just markings, either, but literal eyes built into its limbs and chest.

Somewhere inside the creature was a humanoid silhouette, but that hardly mattered. It was a monster, and Watts had to hold back his gag reflex just to look at it.

Beside him, Emerald failed in that task, and Watts made a mental note to get new boots if they made it out of this.

Whatever it was, it strode towards them at a leisurely pace, but the casual nature was ruined by the way its many eyes flicked about them and intently studied their entire forms.

"You are incredibly rude," it... It didn't speak, certainly. The voice was too even and didn't have the slightest echo off the walls around then. "I was willing to die tonight, but you demanded something from me. Thinking me human? How insulting."

Calling _that_ human!? What was it...

No.

No. No, no, no!

Ozpin.

Watts took a step back, only to realize it wouldn't matter. He'd seen the fight between him and Hazel, and he wasn't anywhere near that speed- and Ozpin had apparently been holding back the entire time. Strength didn't even come into it, since he was apparently immortal.

Emerald took the initiative, raising her hands up to cast an illusion. "Get out of here!"

He didn't need to be told twice.

Except, that didn't look to be possible anymore.

The light at the end of the tunnel had disappeared, replaced instead with a steel barrier. If they Cinder, they could burn their way through the displaced metal, or perhaps a Paladin to smash through it, but now...

Wait... How did he even do that? Wasn't his semblance time related- hence the afterimages?

No- he was deluding himself thinking that creature would follow any human limitations. That would also explain how the eyes followed them flawlessly, despite Emeralds efforts.

"I will offer you a deal, Hazel." Watts froze, eyes trailing to the normally stoic man. He seemed terrified now, though he stood with a stubborn defiance only he seemed able to give Ozpin's latest surprise. "I will let you, and all your little friends go, if you but ask a simple question of Salem."

Ask Salem something? That sounded too simple- too easy- to be reasonable.

"And what is this... Question?"

"Simple." It stopped walking forward and the white glow spiked.

The flash ended, and the winged monstrocity was gone, but the voice finished anyway.

"Ask her when she'll forgive your stupid species."

* * *

 **God, this whole thing was a blast to write. The first exchange between Hazel and Ozpin in particular. I've always disliked the way they portrayed Hazel in the finale, as definitively wrong, since Ozpin has done a lot of shady stuff throughout the series. He's also rather weak- in all but the literal sense- which was disappointing.**

 **In true fanfiction fashion, I have completely ruined the established characterization. I feel, and I hope you do as well, that it's better this way.**

 **I did want to bring up a few things here. Due to the partial incorporation of The Games We Play (And damn, The Lies We Tell is taking its sweet time coming out) the power level of Ozpin and Salem has changed. Not to completely incomparable levels, like in the story itself, but changed.**

 **That should be obvious, as should the why of the situation, but I feel like going a little deeper.**

 **See... They are Malkuth and Keter, as expected, but the other eight are still around. Kind of. Within my version, both the 4 Maidens and the 4 Relics are the manifestations of the rest of the now dead Seraphim. Keter, through the immortality of the soul, and Malkuth, through the immortality of the body, have yet to perish despite thousands of years, and thereby haven't had their powers turned manifest in the same manner.**

 **I also love the idea that any real gods would utterly hate our species for our false beliefs about them. Like, if a creator deity was a part of reality, he would be insulted by the idea that he would torture people for eternity for the ignorance of his existence, or for thinking he condoned slavery.**

 **This isn't completely applicable here, since neither Malkuth or Keter are true deities, but I think the power difference makes the problem negligible.**

 **Tell me what you think of this chapter- please. This was an experiment, on multiple levels, and I'd like to hear as many opinions as possible.**


	29. Nuclear Winter

**Are any of you familiar with Celtic Phoenix Productions?**

 **He's a YouTube channel that runs the Fixing RWBY series, where he goes moment by moment and point by point reconstructing RWBY into a better show. He specified at the end of the fourth video that it's free to use for Fanfiction purposes.**

 **I was wondering if any of you would be interested in that. No glaringly massive changes to the plot, no special powers, and following his guidance to the letter- with freedom given to anything he never actually specified.**

 **He's only through Volume 2 now, and it wouldn't start until Excalibrrr and Fickle Things have both ended. I still figure I should ask, though, as I do have many other projects (if you read my profile anytime in the last month, you'd know just how man) that I could work on.**

 **I am also returning to school, which may or may not impact my work. It probably won't, to be honest, as most of the delays are just my lazy ass procrastinating, but you never know what college will bring you.**

 **Sometimes it's a fun class with no homework and an awesome teacher.**

 **Sometimes it's a class that lies about having no homework so you fail 100% of the time. (I've had two of these- one even had it written into the sylabbus that there wasn't any homework, but marked 60% of your grade off of it- which you also had to go to a special website only he used with info he would only give you when he asked despite the fact the website was never mentioned anywhere.)**

 **You never know.**

* * *

A moment passed in complete silence. Nobody wanted to speak, much less move, lest fate be tempted to bring that abomination back.

Eventually, though, the stillness was broken when Mercury let out an explosive sigh.

"That... Was a thing," he understated drastically. "What do we do now?"

Ah, the ten-trillion lien question. Winter was effectively pinned, as she couldn't know exactly where they were or how many there were, but with Ozpin apparently being an eldritch monstrocity, there was no real way to know just how powerful anyone really was.

For all they knew, every single member of Beacon staff could have been one.

The creaking of metal behind them stole their attention, and Watts whipped around, only to see the wall paneling Ozpin had torn aside to block the path collapse to the ground with a decidedly natural speed.

Didn't make the slam any less wince worthy, though.

"I have an idea."

Emerald? Watts raised an eyebrow as he met her eyes. "Oh? One that doesn't get us killed, I presume."

She rolled her eyes, but went on to explain anyway. "We only need her last thoughts to be about me, right?" Yes, but she wasn't looking for an actual answer, and so kept going. "We can still collapse Amity and use my semblance to make her perceive only me."

"And of her sister?" Watts interjected. "It's entirely possible Winter would intentionally think of Weiss as she died to spite us."

Mercury took a few steps forward, facing him from beside Emerald. "No, it would still work. If they died at close enough to the same time, that shouldn't matter. At worst, we'd simply need to put the other Schnee girl under the same illusion."

Emerald nodded. "I can handle a simple illusion on two people just fine. I'm a bit more concerned about how I won't crash and burn with them. The Grimm won't ignore me, so flying above is out, and nowhere on this Colosseum will be safe if it crashes."

"Why not just get Neo to change your appearance?" It was a bit of a gamble, but it was one they could test before they went all in. If the Grimm could somehow tell that it wasn't, say, Tyrion, then they'd need a new plan. If they couldn't, though, they'd have a perfect plan in order.

Now they just needed Neo to...

"Where is Neo?"

* * *

A hard thud echoed through the ceiling, followed by many much quieter ones as someone in heels pounded across the hull of the Atlesian Flagship. Roman smiled, spinning around in his chair and finally relaxing into it.

With her here, their mission was to simply keep the ship afloat- which was something they were planning to do anyway. After all, who would destroy the getaway vehicle?

Not a professional, certainly. At least, he wouldn't be crashing into anything _yet._

The door into the cockpit gave a small hiss as it opened, revealing his favorite ice-cream colored psychopath. It was depressing how many of those he actually knew.

"Neo!" he greeted, slipping out of the pilots chair and making his way towards her. "I gotta say, you look better in pink."

She rolled her eyes, the skirt and thigh-high socks breaking off into the more familiar black slacks and her uniform shirt melting into a... Pink hoodie, apparently. It was new, and based on the Mistral logo on it, definitely stolen sometime during the Vytal Festival.

The only thing to disappear completely was the beret, and good riddance to it too. Bowler hats were so much better.

"So, what are our little boys and girls downstairs up to?" He knew something had happened, since she was allowed to come back at all. They barely trusted him to do the job in the first place, not that he could exactly blame them.

 _Actually, I could just wipe them off the map right now._

It was a tempting thought, but one he passed on. If any of them survived, Cinder's boss would hear about it, and that would spell disaster for him. He could be slumming it in the middle of the Vacuoan desert and still be in danger.

Roman blinked, having entirely missed the answer to his question. "Would you, uh..." She glared at him. "They have ice cream?"

That seemed to put her more... Unpleasant intentions to bed for now. He just had to hope to god that when she dragged him to the kitchens later they actually did. Amidst setting up Tyrion's playlist, protecting the ship from the Grimm, and installing Watts' little device, he hadn't had time to check.

She did answer him; Neo whipped out her scroll and sent him a brief video of Emerald, Mercury, and Tyrion chasing Winter further into the building.

"They're inside, huh?" Roman looked off to one of the many windows of the cockpit. With screen technology, there could have easily been a dozen feet of metal between them and the open air, but that wouldn't have the 'regal views' Atlas was so famous for.

Amity was a mess, with Grimm, huntsman, and White Fang all going at it while the sheep mostly stayed within their pen- that was to say, the hangers around the base of the stadium.

The actual Colloseum was massive, spanning around two dozen floors before you reached the equivelant of ground level. That was plenty of distance to minimize casualties if he just opened fire on them.

Now he just needed to figure out what all the buttons did.

Roman smiled, stepping forward and ruffling up her hair with one hand, in a way only he could get away with. "Atta girl, Neo."

* * *

" _Dammit Neo,_ " Emerald seethed, though there wasn't exactly a lot of surprise. Double crossing them was inevitable when dealing with Roman, which is why they'd planned to keep Neo close to them in the first place.

Without the Maiden powers, none of them could even get to the airship to punish them for it, and now they were stuck without their best shot. The Grimm would wear down everyone in there, given time, but time would also allow the enemy time to regroup.

More unknown semblances would only complicate the issue. They needed to fight her alone.

"How about a duel?"

Emerald turned to Hazel, intrigued.

"Everyone in there is going to be worried about the Grimm, and there would be casualties on both sides if we got into an all out brawl. If we sent someone in to battle her in a roughly fair fight, while the rest of us and them are occupied with the Grimm, both sides would be incentivized to stay out of it."

It was a decent plan, and one that would minimize deaths. It was risky, given the nature of the Maiden powers and their own skills, but Tyrion or Hazel had a decent shot at winning.

Getting them to agree wouldn't be hard, either, given the alternative.

That just left figuring out which to-

"Ooh! I'll do it!" Tyrion shouted, waving one of his hands in the air. "I'll kill the girl!"

Hazel only nodded, accepting it for unvoiced reasons.

That was fast.

* * *

Winter was on edge instantly. They were walking into the stands from one of the corridors; the whole group, just walking in.

There was no way it wasn't a trap, somehow. Perhaps an illusion as they came in from somewhere else or an opportunity to use her hesitation to block off all the exits. Her paranoia was hardly helped as they casually strolled further in, disposing of any Grimm that sought to stop them with equal ease.

They weren't subtle, so if it wasn't an illusion, they would definitely be noticed. She could see others react, giving them glances, but that wasn't exactly reliable either.

Emerald was a real pain like that.

Winter prepared raised her rapier and gathered her breath. A fight with them would be hectic, and any vulnerability would be exploited.

If not by them, then the Grimm certainly would.

The burliest of them broke ahead of the group, jogging forward. He kept his distance- never reaching a threatening range- and stopped once he was within earshot.

"We'd like to broker a deal," he shouted, gesturing with one arm towards his party.

A deal, huh? She wouldn't give her own life. As a soldier, she was trained to protect others, even at the expense of it, but this was entirely different. If they offered peace with the rest of them for the Maiden powers, they would still use it to cause more killing later.

It would be a losing deal, no matter what, which just raised a question. What kind of deal did they think she'd take?

"A duel- you fight Tyrion one on one. If he loses, we will leave, though we obviously make no guarantee that we won't be coming back sometime later once this whole disaster has been dealt with."

Trial by combat, essentially. "What insurance do we have that you won't interfere?" After all, the moment they lost, they could just leave. Even if the students and Port wanted to stop them, they'd be hampered by the Grimm far more than their group. Not exactly a flawless plan, but she was dealing with terrorists. Flawless kind of fell out the window the moment they interfered with Penny's doubles match.

The man crossed his arms and looked down in thought. Eventually, though, he let out a sigh.

"You have none, and there is no way I could convince you that you do." He shook his head, turning back towards his team, before facing her once more. "The alternative is worse for you, though. Some of us might die, but you all would."

Not a lie, certainly. Winter hummed, eventually conceding to it. "Alright."

There wasn't exactly a chance to set up the arena, or even clear it of people, since the Grimm would just take position. Instead, Tyrion simply walked to to meet her.

He was smiling, as usual, but it was dampened slightly. Not the curve of his lips, which was as broad as ever, but rather the spark in his eyes. It was... Muted slightly, from what she'd seen before.

Had something happened?

She didn't get a chance to ask, as he sprung forward, crashing one of his wristblades into her rapier. It was intentional, trapping the blade within, and he had another one to attack with in a moment.

Winter didn't give him that moment, using his own locked grip as a lever to pull him towards her. She ducked below him, throwing him over her back and sending him towards the ground.

He had other plans, and as he was crashing downwards, he span.

Tyrion landed in a plank, but stretched his arms out to lift him most of the way up. He didn't reach a standing position, but hadn't meant to, as the diagonal was perfect for lunging at this distance.

Winter didn't bother blocking, or even dodging. Instead, her eyes came alight with an orange glow, and a powerful gust sent him skidding back. The rush of air was soon followed by spurt of flames that shot towards him.

He rolled to the side, avoiding the spray, but she followed him with her hand. Controlling it was instinct, and not hers, but still so easy to use.

Her strategy was simple, and he found a way out of it fairly easily. On his next roll, he stopped on all fours and lept. Not forward- at least, not directly- but up. The man soared over the flames and towards her, but a rapidly summoned glyph blocked his approach.

Tyrion made no attempt to break it, and instead gripped the edge with one hand. He flipped over it, aiming a devastating ax kick for her head.

The strike missed horribly, as she had ample time to pivot out of the way, but as that leg came to settle on the other side of her glyph, the real purpose of the poorly done attack became obvious.

Winter didn't bother waiting for him to attack, already throwing herself to one side. She rolled up to her feet in time to sidestep a swing of his weapon, and then parried the next by shoving his elbow aside with her blade.

He was strong, but without Emerald and Mercury, it was clear who the victor would be. Unfortunately, that information should be clear to her opponent and his group as well.

Not much she could do about it now, so as she batted aside another strike, she simply lept backward and away from them all.

* * *

Peter was... Unhappy.

That was a rather unusual experience, as slaughtering an army of Grimm with nothing but his trusty blunderbuss would normally bring a feeling of youth to his aging body and mind. That feeling was still there, but muted, because of what he wasn't doing.

Specifically, helping someone in need. There were twenty-two people in the room, with sixteen striking at the Grimm- himself included- but the main fight was between two of them alone. Winter Schnee, someone he recognized both because of her sister, Weiss, and his own trips to Atlas, vs someone completely new- Tyrion Callows.

It was a name he knew, though it belonged to someone he had never met. A Mistralean murderer, who- for years- acted as a solo huntsman, killed the Grimm he was tasked with, and then took the villagers' lives as payment.

He had been on one such endeavor, out slaying a pair of Goliaths that had kept near and border town between Vale and Mistral, when he'd seemed to fail. No body was ever recovered- as was typical with Grimm killings- but spurts of blood were everywhere.

Considering the murders stopped, and he wasn't sighted for a decade, everyone had thought him dead.

Clearly a farce.

Peter whipped around, cleaving off the head of a Gryphon and punting its now flailing corpse into its many friends. They reacted as Grimm do- that is to say, they charged at him with complete disregard for the talons rending their hides.

The Grimm were vicious creatures, who appeared mindless, but he'd figured out long ago that something was holding them back. If the Grimm simply charged at every city, as their mentality would imply, humanity would have been extinct centuries ago.

He'd initially thought it simple- they were attracted to negative emotions, so perhaps they were repelled by positive? It made sense, like how the two ends of a magnet operate, but there were mind mindbogglingly large holes in how Remnant worked, if that were the case.

All the rest of his theories had fallen apart all on their own, until he was eventually left with just one- a guiding intelligence. Perhaps an ancient Grimm, who had achieved human intelligence, or else the creator of them itself. He didn't know, but without any way to prove it.

It would explain his survival, though. He wasn't killed- he was recruited.

Such a being would also explain why they would destroy Vale in order to kill but a single person, as it seemed. Winter was the target, but if she was already here, why not kill two birds with one stone?

 _Or two cities with one speech,_ Port thought, letting out his frustration in a monstrous warcry that even brought the Grimm opposite him to a pause. They were dealt with before they could sum up the mindless courage to continue.

If only Ozpin were here. Perhaps he could shed some light on this... Oobleck, too, but he knew the mission report by heart.

Two dead, with Ozpin the only survivor, and only the pictures on Bart's scroll to show for it.

As he'd done many times before, he poured his anger into the violent deaths of Grimm.

* * *

Tyrion growled, flipping his hands up and unloading a clip from his weapons in less than a second. Given the simple application of a glyph, he missed his target. She was just too mobile- too fast- for him to properly deal with.

As the hail of gunfire ended, and his hearing returned in full, a new sound accompanied the Grimm. Engines? No ship should have been able to so much as reach this place, much less be close enough to hear.

He looked up, through the massive hole in the ceiling, and he'd have to be blind to not see how wrong he was.

There was exactly one ship that could.

The sound of drums beat down on them, overpowering both the roar of the engines and the wind caused by thousands of flying Grimm. The black sky, both from night and Grimm, shown with a number of spotlights which scanned the arena.

The drums gave way to a guitar as an unfamiliar voice cried out in song.

 **Well it's midnight, damn right, we're wound up too tight!**

It wasn't one of his songs- that much was clear- and that seemed fitting for Roman's betrayal.

 **I've got a fist full of whiskey, the bottle just bit me!**

Tyrion took the delay in attacking for what it was: a chance to run. It was almost in slow motion, as he turned and sprinted towards the stands.

 **That shit makes me bat shit crazy!**

His feet had never carried himself faster, and as he fell to all fours, his manic pace increased further. He bounded over entire sections of the arena in a desperate bid to escape.

 **We've got no fear, no doubt, all in balls out!**

No thought was put to anyone else- there simply wasn't time. His Aura flared as he made a final lunge, just barely managing to throw himself through some door. He didn't know the room, but it hardly mattered, as he only wanted to escape the-

Silence.

It wasn't natural, he could tell by the blood pouring from his ears and the shockwave that, even with distance and barriers between them, slammed him against a concrete wall. The shockwave wasn't alone, and a brilliant wave of orange light shot towards him.

Burning was all it brought.

Black encroached on the edges of his vision, but he forced himself to crawl forward along the damaged masonry, edging his way towards the door.

 _If I... I can just... Get out of this..._

His body protested, pain that was hidden beneath shock slowly revealing itself. Broken bones- bruised everything- and small embers which licked at the hair across his body. All of it went ignored. He had to escape- to be free.

To stay was to die.

Which is why he could only chuckle silently to himself as his arms gave in, collapsing to the ground.

 _I'm sorry, my Queen..._

* * *

 **Man. I have seen so many fics where Roman either makes a run for it or betrays his employers, but nothing like this. He had the nations strongest weapon at his fingertips, and was completely untouchable by them, yet he saw fit to sit around rather than destroy them utterly.**

 **I realize he could be afraid of Salem, but... Lets be real, everyone should be all the time. It's not like her plans to destroy all of humanity would arbitrarily skip over scum like him who work for her employees.**

 **Well not today. Here, he makes a real difference.**

 **Also, I know I'm a bit late on the release, but it's genuinely not my fault this time. Someone else was using my computer at the time I would normally upload, and I only just got it back.**

 **The length, though... That is on me. I just couldn't think of how to satisfactorily fill in time without continuing past Roman's attack, which would feel incomplete unless I tacked on almost 2000 words. If you have any ideas, I'd be glad to fill in more of this chapter with your ideas.**

 **Thank you, and have a terrible evening, a horrible Christmas, and an awful Kwanzaa.**

 **Yes, I know those are not for months now. I can already feel the review from one dude in particular jabbing at my authors note and any number of other things.**


	30. Brrrned

**This is arguably the finale of Excalibrrr. I mentioned a long time ago that it can't continue past Volume 3, and you'll see why when you read further. The story isn't exactly finished, yet, but the intent of it is.**

 **I can provide whatever followup you guys want in the next chapter or two, but only on request. If this is the last I see of you, for this series... I hope you all enjoy it. If you do have anything you'd like to hear about, regarding the future of this world, leave a review of message me directly. I still have tons of free time to write anything people are actually interested in.**

 **The only exception is Roman's continuation. After all, what happens in Vacuo, stays in Vacuo.**

 **Seriously though- do tell me. I wrote this as a vacation of sorts, and I have no qualms about extending it a little.**

 **If nothing comes up, I look forward to seeing as many of you on Fickle Things as a retcon/tear off half a dozen or so chapters. It was necessary for me to do anything- believe me.**

 **Following its completion, there is a planned rewrite- to get rid of grammatical errors and plotholes while making it flow better- and then nothing. I haven't decided what actually comes after it, and if you want to weigh in, please go to my profile and look over the stories I have listed there. Review or message me with the ones you'd like to see, and I'll get on that then.**

 **Most of this note will be repeated in Fickle Things- and there is a massive delay. If you want to wait, or somethings comes up- or whatever else- know that you can request one way down the line.**

 **Anywho, I know most people don't actually read these, so... Banana.**

 **Have a good one, everybody.**

* * *

Roman chuckled. That is the official story, anyway. In reality, he spun around his chair, cackling like a mad man as a mixture of relief and elation poured through him. It was a new sensation- but it shouldn't have been.

Freedom. True, honest to goodness freedom.

How long had it been since he'd actually been free to act of his own accord? Cinder had only come in around three years ago, but he was obligated to get back at the council and Vale for the events of Mountain Glenn before that.

Ozpin before that, and the streets themselves from as young as he could remember.

Now, there was nothing. Vale was dead- or, at the very least, the councils rule was over. Cinder and her group were dead- at least all that knew of him directly. Salem herself would likely come for him in time, but she'd have to hear of what happened first.

Seeing the crater inside Amity, that might take a good god damn long time. She had nobody here.

Roman's head fell back into the pilots chair, a cushion taking a nasty blow as he burst out laughing again.

"Neo- Neo- we're free!"

His excitement was infectious, and Neo smiled back. Not in that coy- or lethal, in vastly more cases- smirk he was used to seeing, but a genuine grin. He'd seen it exactly once before, and she'd been named after the experience.

Her joy dampened slightly, as she widened her eyes in such a way as to ask 'what now?'

 _That's actually a good question. Vale is done for, and thieving from a dead city was hardly sustainable._ He normally relied on the SDC's theft insurance to replenish whatever he took, and while many business suffered during Cinder's time as his increased activity raised premiums, it at least worked out.

Vale was out for obvious reasons. _As is Atlas,_ he noted, squeezing the armrest of his new ship. Menagerie was also out, seeing as neither of them were faunus.

"Mistral or Vacuo?" he asked, already having a feeling he knew the answer. When she nodded twice, he smiled, having guessed she'd prefer the warm beaches over windy mountains.

Not that he would argue. He was looking forward to some sun as well, but that wasn't quite yet.

"We're not quite done here, yet," he said, turning back to the pilots controls.

He knew her question before he even looked at her quirked brow. He didn't answer, though. Instead, he let the song do it for him.

 **We're going out tonight! (Hey!) To kick out every light!** **(Hey!)**

 **Take anything we want!** **(Hey!)** **Take everything in sight!** **(Hey!)**

 **We're going till the world stops turning while we burn it to the ground tonight!**

* * *

Hazel was honestly surprised to wake up at all, given what had hit him. Hiding behind the giant block of ice in the middle of the arena was the best option he had at the time, but it was hardly a good one.

That attack... It was something new, that was for sure. It was difficult to tell exactly what had happened, though the signs of flame and lightning dust were unmistakable as the weapon had charged. He'd done similar things himself many times- though never to anywhere near this extent.

The arena was gone. Not ruined or destroyed- just gone. The entire fighting arena, along with a floor or two below that, had been wiped away. The stands weren't quite as bad, since they weren't hit directly, but it was still obliterated- all that remained was scorched metal and a few 'lucky' chairs, which were only smoldering instead of disintegrated.

At least Grimm were gone, and none would be coming to follow up. With everyone unconscious, or more likely dead, the negativity simply wasn't there.

He scanned his surroundings, trying to find the rest of their group.

Tyrion was missing, though he had run away before the explosion. Perhaps he'd escape. The rest of them...

Mercury and Emerald was missing too, though he knew they weren't able to get away. He'd seen the fear- the hesitation- in their eyes. Hazel sighed, but absence was better than the corpse Watts left behind.

He'd escaped the initial explosion, being caught by the shockwave and the wall of flames instead. His scorched body was impaled on some piping a floor below.

And then there was him.

Not feeling pain was probably the best thing about right now. It meant he didn't feel his own injuries.

But he could still see them, and his inability to move his legs was an obvious enough indicator that he wasn't alright. He was alive, though, which was an improvement over the rest of them.

He needed to leave- get to Salem. He wasn't bleeding too much, except from a gash on his head that he could patch up easily enough. So long as he could make it, she could repair his body with the Grimm like she had with Cinder.

That dream was cut off as someone else stood up, her eyes burning with with a fury rivaling that of Salem herself. While her left leg buckled initially, she managed to stay on her feet and limp over to him.

Winter's rapier came up, and with a simple downward thrust, she put him down.

* * *

Anger and pain- that was what the world had become.

Her blade slid from the man's skull, gravity doing the work of drawing it out. That was good, as she could feel the exhaustion even through the ache of broken bones and any number of burns.

She fought against it, using her sword to hold herself up as she looked for her sister. She had been here- and had prepared a shield of her own. She'd seen it.

Damn her, if she didn't make it.

What remained of a white combat outfit drew her eyes to the right, and her heart beat raced. She was clearly hurt from the blast, and as she weakly shuffled over, the sight of her chest moving was enough to end all thoughts of finding the rest of them.

Weiss was alive- at least for now. Winter was quick to look away from the blood pouring from innumerable small cuts caused by shrapnel from her own ice wall. It wouldn't matter, in a second, anyway.

Winter collapsed at her side, allowing her legs to give out once she was close enough. Her rapier pierced the ground once more, a glyph spreading out between them.

There wasn't so much as a tug on her Aura as it grew, reaching over ten feet in diameter. You can't take what isn't there, after all.

The flames around her eyes dimmed as she sent that instead, fueling her semblance with the arcane energy. The glyph glowed a vibrant orange, instead of the typical white- but it took the shape she wanted: a timepiece.

It span, making one rotation a second. Then, as Winter forced Amber's power into it, the hands of time slowed.

And stopped.

Weiss' seemed frozen in time, the blood pouring from her stopped completely. That wasn't enough, though.

Red leaked from Winter's nose and tears formed in her eyes from the sheer agony of forcing the power out. Slowly- ever so slowly- the glyph started to move again.

Backwards.

Winter closed her eyes, shutting out everything else as she focused only on the glyph. It obeyed, accelerating as the floor was cleared of its crimson paint. Her arms shook and sparks of pain shot through her, as if the very universe was fighting her very choice.

It didn't win, and the second her skin was renewed, Winter cut it off.

She'd... She'd done it. She gasped for breath, leaning her entire weight onto her sword as she tried and failed to smile. Weiss was... She was safe.

Weiss was alive, and would remain that way.

Her arm quaked again, and she lost her grip, falling to the ground. The impact hardly bothered her- the pain unnoticed as she sighed in relief.

Unconsciousness took hold, and she did little to resist its pull.

* * *

Peace was a strange feeling, particularly after what she knew just happened. It was brief- a mere instant- but she'd felt the force and heat from that explosion.

Yet now she felt fine.

As she cracked open one eye, Weiss idly wondered if she was dead. The unreality of that idea set in the moment she caught sight of the arena- or what was left of it, at any rate. If her afterlife was even remotely close to this, she'd need to have a talk with the manager.

That wasn't now, fortunately, and Weiss slowly brought herself into a seated position.

Her eyes instantly locked onto Winter, right beside her, but the initial rush of fear faded when she saw her face.

Not only was she breathing, which was a relief in its own right, but she seemed far too relaxed to be in any real pain. Winter was merely unconscious, and she realized exactly why when she saw the receding glyph beneath her.

She had been injured, but her sister saved her. That was-

 _Injured..._

Weiss shot up, just now processing a particular objects absence- the block of ice she'd encased Jaune in.

Pale blue orbs whipped around, desperately searching for him. He'd been hurt before... Lethally wounded, and perhaps worse now. It was impossible that he'd survive without immediate healing. A shock of blond drew her towards the edge of where the stands were.

He was dead- she didn't even need to check his pulse or breathing to tell.

 _Winter saved you._

That she had, and with a skill they both possessed. She'd never turned a time glyph backwards, but she had slowed people down before. Just pour more power into it, right?

She closed her eyes, taking a moment to check on her Aura. She hadn't taken much damage before the explosion, and- sure enough- it was around 80%. Winter had done it after tanking the explosion, and she saw a few small wounds which implied a drained Aura. If she could do it on almost nothing...

Weiss marched purposefully towards him, taking a stance at his side. Mytenaster stuck into the ground, a circle of white spreading around them.

Age old training returned to the forefront of her mind, and as Weiss took a breath, the hands of time slowed. An hour became half. A minute became a moment. Finally, with a sharp tug on her Aura, it stopped.

Now the hard part: something only two Schnees- _no, three,_ she noted with as she remembered Winter- had ever done. Weiss took a deep breath, shutting out the world in order to focus only on the glyph.

Turning it back was like pushing a train by hand. It fought her, its sheer inertia pushing with more force than anything really could. It wouldn't win, however, and Weiss only tried harder in response.

It shifted, ever so slightly, in the right direction.

Weiss smiled, pouring in her energy to force it to continue. It was slow- but it was accelerating- until eventually it was moving backwards in real time.

That wasn't enough, and as Weiss let go of the breath she'd been holding, she sent everything she could through her blade. It glowed from the sheer amount of Aura coursing through it, but it didn't so much as crack as it was funneled into the glyph.

Seconds grew, and she got to witness firsthand his scorched clothing and burned flesh pull itself back together.

But that wasn't everything. The holes in his chest were still there.

Weiss grit her teeth, holding steadfast as the process continued. Entire minutes were reverted, with no visible progress, but the glyph still ate up what it was given despite the lack of change.

"Any second now," she said as it continued to spin. "Any second he'll be here- all embarrassed about losing..."

Slowly, exhaustion started to reach in- her Aura largely spent. That didn't matter- he wasn't cracking awkward jokes yet, which meant her job wasn't complete.

Eventually, blood started to seep back into him. It was actually rather quick, but only because of the sheer speed at which he'd bled.

That still meant she was close.

Jaune's chest seemed to bulge slightly, as clothing and flesh knit itself back together, and Weiss finally cut the glyph off.

As if she had the choice. She could feel the emptiness of her Aura- both directly and in the way her body was sluggish in reaching out to him.

Her partner was back- healed. She'd... She'd done it.

Weiss fell forward, catching herself on both arms before crawling her way to him.

He didn't move.

"Alright, Jaune, time to wake up!" It made sense that he was asleep- she had been, after all. "We've got a lot of people to go save."

He didn't move.

"Jaune?" She leaned over, shaking his shoulder with one hand. "Come on, lazy bones- get up."

He didn't move.

"Get up, dammit!" she shouted, to no effect. "You're not allowed to keep me waiting!"

He didn't move.

He didn't breathe, either, and that realization alone brought her to tears.

The body was there- but Jaune wasn't.

* * *

 **Man, I am not used to writing tragic endings. I don't actually like the way this came out, but I can't think of exactly how to improve it. If you have any ideas- leave those, and your suggestions for any continuations, in a review or message to me.**

 **Thank you all for reading. The positivity towards this story, as compared to my others, has been truly refreshing. Creators often get the short end of the stick, with people hating on their works, but there has been none of that here.**

 **Even the critics I disagree with aren't exactly cruel- which is great.**

 **At any rate, I do have to leave off at some point. Since I was just invited to play some Risk Of Rain with a buddy, I'mma cut out here.**

 **Just remember- don't die.**


	31. Thawing Out

**Congratulations! Excalibrrr is getting rewritten- though the original will remain standing, unlike Fickle Things- with the biggest changes coming in the end. Specifically, the TGWP elements are being stripped out, as they are incompatible with both my new plan and the Volume 6 version of Salem.**

 **I hope to see all of you over there.**

 **However, you are not allowed to post chapters that are** ** _just_ the ****Author's notes, so along with this will be the first chapter. Excalibrrr II will be released with the second chapter, so enjoy getting at it first.**

 **Before I get into that, though, I have another note. The Fickle Things rewrite is well underway, with the first book fully complete and ready to publish. Figured I'd let you know to keep an eye out, in case any of you were interested in what** ** _I_** **consider one of the** ** _two_** **actually good stories I've written.**

 **Reviews to this chapter will be covered in the equivalent Chapter 1 of Excalibrrr II instead of Excalibrrr, but will still be answered.**

 **Enjoy.**

* * *

Jaune nearly stumbled when he dropped from the bullhead.

Not that it was airborne- which didn't seem to mind the six people who'd jumped out before it landed. However, some pile of cartilage had decided not to give the airship some kind of ramp or stairs. The larger ships had them, so it's not like they hadn't thought of it.

Thankfully, nobody seemed to notice his slip up, and he spared a moment to get his bearings.

Before anything else, he patted himself down to make sure he still had everything. He could feel the weight of Crocea Mors at his hip, and he found his wallet and scroll easily enough. The pamphlet he'd grabbed in the ride over was gone, but he could have just left it somewhere in his haste to get off the accursed vehicle.

That's the other thing about bullheads- what really made him angry and nauseous; he got airsick.

He had no idea why since nobody else in his family had the same problem, but then Fate did love pissing all over him.

What limited distractions he had on hand exhausted, Jaune finally turned his attention to his destination: Beacon Academy.

The school buildings themselves were a distance away since he was still on the airfield, but that only made how towering they seemed more impressive. While he doubted they saw much use, the spires reached a good hundred feet into the air, and they were dwarfed still by the clocktower at the center of the facility. The time- 4:02, he noted- showed on the clockface his way, but behind it would be the most powerful man on that planet.

Ozpin, the elderly ruler and headmaster of Beacon, had let him in. That was... Terrifying, to say the least. Not the acceptance itself, which he'd expected, but the fact that Ozpin had personally messaged him with the result.

Jaune didn't even need to look to his scroll to see the message- it was forever burned into his mind.

 _Congratulations on your entry to Beacon Academy, Jaune Arc. We have reviewed your application, and you are hereby invited to join us for a four-year tenure starting September 18th. Please arrive for the entrance ceremony before 4:30._

 _I look forward to seeing the Arc Legacy continued, and will be putting in every effort to see it happen. Please, enjoy your time here._

 _Ozpin._

The first half seemed almost automated, and very well might have been, but the second... Ozpin had to know what he'd done, yet he was in anyway.

Jaune wasn't one to look a gift horse in the mouth, but that just didn't sit well with him. If nothing else, stressing over that had distracted him from his own airsickness, letting him keep his lunch down. He could still taste the bile and had stood near a trash can the whole ride, but he hadn't actually needed to use it.

Silver linings and all that.

Jaune shot back a step at a sudden explosion, which- if nothing else- tore him from his despairing thoughts. It was frighteningly close, too! Were they under attack!?

There were only a pair of stragglers nearby, but they didn't seem even mildly concerned with the tuft of smoke lazily ascending into the sky. Were random explosions normal, then? He honestly couldn't tell if that was _worse_ than being under attack.

If nothing else, a few dozen trained fighters were just ahead of him, so Jaune made his way towards it. Cautiously, of course.

The remnants of the explosion were entirely absent by the time he arrived, which seemed a little odd, but then what did he know? Dust- the most likely source of it- was utterly beyond him. Seriously- there'd been this one video of a dude setting his house aflame with fire Dust and causing absolutely no damage.

While there wasn't a crater in the ground, there was a red and black garbed figure flat on their back about where it had been. Had someone been hurt?

Nobody else was nearby, so Jaune took it upon himself to walk over and check on them.

It was a girl- that much was clear once he got closer. She had a fairly masculine figure, but the skirt kind of gave it away. The rest of her outfit seemed equally impractical- heeled boots, thin leggings, and a giant red cape that was showing clear signs of age. She didn't look old enough to go here, either, though that just made her as unqualified as him.

Her eyes opened and Jaune froze. Crap- she was awake and he'd just been standing over her. Maybe she didn't notice how long he'd been there...?

"Hi there," Jaune greeted, hoping to distract her with his offered hand. "You looked like you could use some help."

She stared up at him for a brief moment, but before he could really feel awkward about it, she grabbed his hand and hauled herself up. Jaune, in turn, ignored the fact she nearly pulled him off his feet.

"Sorry- I was expecting some pun about needing a hand." She rubbed the back of her head, a nervous tick Jaune shared. "Sisters, you know."

Jaune chuckled. Yeah- he knew a little something about sisters, having come from a family of seven. "What caused that explosion, anyway?"

The girl winced, and he realized his mistake right away. On the off chance he missed it, she whispered it to herself as well. "You weren't supposed to ask that..." Okay, he got the social faux pas, but he was curious. If it was normal, should he have already known? Did huntsmen just randomly explode!?

He knew a bit about semblances since his father frequently used his at home, but he could have created explosions as a kid! Damn... He'd need to look it up later since the girl looked keen to not answer his question.

"I'm Jaune," he eventually said, changing the subject. "Jaune Arc- short, sweet, rolls off the tongue; ladies love it." _Nailed it,_ he mentally cheered at getting through it without stuttering. He'd practiced in front of a mirror, but it was a little different doing that in front of someone.

Speaking of, that someone was busy giving him a deadpan expression and staring blankly into his eyes. Maybe... Maybe his mom was wrong?

After a moment, she snorted, breaking out into a fit of laughter.

 _No..._ Jaune groaned, slumping his shoulders. He'd thought it was cool.

"Ruby," she managed in the middle of her giggling fit. "Ruby Rose." She gave him a coy smile, which he instantly recognized from the youngest- Amber. "Short, sweet, rolls off the tongue."

She left the last bit off, but he heard it, and _damn_ did it sound awkward from the outside. At least, abbreviated as it was, her introduction was only embarrassing for him.

"Hardy-har-har," he deadpanned right back. "I get enough of this from _my_ sisters. Can we just get to... Wherever we're supposed to go?"

Ruby blinked, looking down for a moment before scanning their surroundings. "Crap..."

Jaune sighed. "You don't know where we're going either, do you?"

"Nope."

Fun...

"Well, we might as well start there," Jaune said, pointing to the largest building nearby. At a guess, it was either an open gym or auditorium, which made it as good a place to go as any. He took the lead, but could only watch pathetically as a red blur shot past him with ease.

 _In for a penny._

* * *

They hadn't missed the speech, thankfully, but that didn't mean he really cared for it. There were a number of lines in it that seemed pointed directly at him, but it otherwise seemed identical to the motivational speeches he was used to as a kid.

The heroic themes involved were nice and all, but he already knew what he was here to do. Beacon was where warriors went to learn their craft.

From where he stood in the gymnasium, he had a clear view of at least a hundred potential warriors. Despite the size of the facility, it was clear not everyone would be getting in, and several people were already panicking about that very fact.

It was kind of strange that he wasn't, honestly. Perhaps he was already resigned to his low odds, and the likely results, but that didn't seem right. As he scanned the crowd, he simply felt at ease.

Perhaps it was Ozpin's words themselves. If he had hoped for him to succeed, it had to be possible, and he doubted Ozpin would accept his application only to dump him right off the bat. Either way, as he laid back under his weighted blanket, he was calm. Hopefully, he would feel the same when the Initiation Ozpin spoke of finally came.

A commotion on the other half of the auditorium- unofficially the female half- drew his attention. From the way several of his peers were staring, he wasn't alone, though the people behind the disturbance didn't seem to notice them.

It was Ruby again, being shouted at by some white-haired girl he didn't recognize. By them, but not actively participating, was a blond and black haired pair. It was too far to make out much more about them, but one was clearly just reading their book.

Hm... He should have brought a book too, honestly, as it was too far for him to hear anything. Since it looked like they weren't about to come to blows, Jaune ignored it, and simply rolled over to head to sleep.

* * *

 _ **Ring! Ring! Ring!**_

Jaune's hand waved about by his side, and the flailing motions managed to somehow convince the device that he was- in fact- awake. After a moment, he cracked his eyes, deciding that it would only cost him to be late to whatever trial the staff had in place for them.

Hopefully it wasn't a written test... He wasn't a bad student in school- not really- but just by the nature of the profession, Jaune knew Beacon would have a different curriculum. Owning a local business or teaching? He was your man. Less so for fighting monsters or fighting natural disasters.

Granted, those were primarily skills he'd be learning here, but there _had_ to be a mental component to it. Weak points on Grimm, or something like that.

Hm... This place had a library, didn't it? If he knew what the test was on, maybe he could study it beforehand.

Jaune glanced to the clock, only to sigh when it said he had an hour until Initiation. Yeah... Not happening. He'd barely sat up in bed yet, and he still needed to get ready and retrieve his stuff.

Come to think of it, did they get to eat at the cafeteria yet? It was just opposite the auditorium, though with a hallway in between, and he could already _smell_ the food inside. It wasn't the most unique scent- just eggs, bacon, and what could have been hashbrowns or some variant of toast- but it was strong, and the growling in his chest demanded to be sated.

Eh, it was worth a shot.

A minute later found him dressed and just past the entrance to the cafeteria. His nose hadn't lied- though, it had _both_ hashbrowns and toast available- and it seemed a lot of other students had the same idea as him. He recognized a few of them, but many more were entirely new. Older students?

Regardless, there didn't seem to be anyone charging for food, but instead just a wide buffet on hand for anyone to grab.

Jaune shrugged, grabbing a tray and hoarding up a few servings of scrambled eggs- salted to taste. While he'd have normally gotten a proper variety, he couldn't be asked right now, and the large spoon he grabbed would let him dig into it with ease.

Where to sit, then?

An unspoken rule of... Basically everywhere was the nature of spots. Wherever you sat, that was almost always where you'd sit for as long as you went there. Wherever he chose, he wouldn't be stuck with per say, but soon would be once everyone else was.

Scanning the room, he took stock of everything he could. There were bathrooms on either end, the buffet in the middle, and exits damn near everywhere. Given that, there wasn't anywhere all that 'better' to sit at. It was mostly the _people_ that would make a spot.

Lacking anyone else to search for, he scanned the room for Ruby, but she was strangely absent. Maybe she woke up earlier?

Either way, as he finished his cursory check, his gaze settled on a familiar shock of blond. She was in a different outfit than before, but that golden mane would be recognizable anywhere. It was shockingly similar to his own sisters, really, though Dad would never allow them to have such a wild hairstyle.

Still... Would it be weird to approach her because of Ruby? He didn't even know her relationship this girl, which could very well be 'acquaintance'.

 _Welp,_ Jaune said, newly set on going. _There's only one way to find out._


End file.
